


Invisible Man | Ironstrange

by iamjohnlcked



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Doctor Strange (Comics), Iron Man (Comics), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Scarlet Witch (Comic), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Adopted Peter Parker, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Author's Favorite, Bisexual Michelle Jones, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Gay Ned Leeds, Gay Peter Parker, Gay Tony Stark, Hurt Stephen Strange, Hurt Thor (Marvel), Hurt Wanda Maximoff, IronStrange, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, M/M, New York City, Stephen Strange & Wong Friendship, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Wanda Maximoff & Peter Parker Friendship, Wanda Maximoff Needs a Hug, invisible stephen strange, michelle jones and wanda maximoff date, stephen strange acting as wanda maximoff's parental figure, thorbruce, wong is wanda's mentor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:46:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 32,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29513403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamjohnlcked/pseuds/iamjohnlcked
Summary: Stephen Strange used to be the best in his field, until the accident, and then he isolated himself, unable to face people staring at him like he was some sort of beast.Wong gives him a choice. To be invisible, completely invisible, but Wong never told him the entire truth about that spell.
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Loki, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark, Bruce Banner/Thor, En Dwi Gast | Grandmaster/Loki, Loki & Stephen Strange, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones/Wanda Maximoff, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Stephen Strange & Wong, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange, Wanda Maximoff & Stephen Strange, Wanda Maximoff & Wong
Comments: 24
Kudos: 55





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO HELLO I'VE POSTED THIS AU BEFORE LIKE BACK IN 2018 (twice oh sorry about that) AND I FINALLY DECIDED TO FINISH IT AND TO EDIT IT ETC... I HOPE YOU LIKE IT, I'VE FIXED SOME PARTS, I'VE FIXED TIME AND ETC AND I'M REALLY PROUD OF THIS ONE.

Stephen doesn’t wanna leave his bed. He grabs his phone on the floor and checks his notifications. 3 text messages from Loki. 2 missing calls from Wong, but he’s too tired and too out of himself to talk to someone. 

It's only six in the morning when he leaves his apartment and walks around Greenwich Village wearing only his underwear. He had been doing that a lot. Walking around New York City around dawn, wearing only what was necessary to not expose himself. That was probably the only thing that would make him feel something. Anything around those days.

It's February. It's as cold as could be around that time and no one can see him, anyway. No one except Wong. At least that was the agreement.

(...)

It's January. The cold air touches his face and doctor Strange looked outside the car window taking a deep breath. He didn't wanna go home. He wanted to work a bit more, drink a cup or two of coffee and work a bit more, but the director of the hospital had sent him home. He had been awake for more than a day and the director sent him home. And he did, promising that he would be back in eight hours.

He had asked Christine to prepare his patient for surgery in a few hours and left. 

He made the turn to the left as always, but he was too tired to notice the truck coming.

Stephen woke up a couple of days later, feeling a sharp pain in his face, unable to move his hands. He saw Christine get up and look at him, her left hand on his shoulder, trying to stop him from moving.

"It's okay, Stephen. You'll be okay." He looked at his hands and for the first time in years he felt like crying.

(...)

"Don't" he was in the bathroom. His hands tried to undo the dressing, trying to remove the crepe bandage from his face, only to feel Christine's hands stopping him. He looked at her, startled. "I don't think you're ready, honey." and he would never forget the way she looked at him. He turned around, looking at her through the mirror and with his hands shaking and fighting against the pain he felt, Stephen removed the surgical tape and the bandage slowly fell off his face, revealing what Stephen thought it was the ugliest creature he had ever seen. He took a few steps back, scared and despite the urge to cry he couldn't find tears for that. His face was unrecognizable from the accident. His eyes were still there, the only thing that remained intact, the ocean blue eyes staring at himself in terror. Christine's hand touched his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"Don't. Touch me." It was the first thing he had said. His first words and they came with a lot of pain and effort. He couldn't even recognize his own voice. As if the skin of his face had melted against the flesh, his once pretty face was unrecognizable and he felt repulsion, he felt disgust and he didn't want to keep looking, but he didn't find the strength to look away. 

"What…" he stopped. Did he really want to know? He finally looked at her, her eyes lost in his, heartbreak in her eyes. "Don't" he begged, knowing that there was nothing he could do to make her stop looking at him like that.

She knew Stephen. She knew him like no one else would, so she didn't know what to do with the man looking at himself like that. 

"It changes nothing." She said, finally. "You know that, don't you? You're still the same Stephen, honey."

He looked at her, his blue eyes almost screaming 'how the hell would you know?'

He finally closed his eyes, his entire body numb from the pain. Christine grabbed the bondage to wrap it around his face again and he let her, this time. 

"Do you wanna know what happened?" She stayed in silence for a second. He stayed there, his mind torn between knowing and not knowing the truth.

When he finally nodded she had already covered his face, only his eyes and his mouth visible.

"It was a tank truck. They think you slept at the wheel. That's probably why you didn't see it. The driver wasn't right either, his lights were red but he kept going and you crashed. They think you're lucky." Stephen looked at her, his hands barely moving, his face covered in bandage, red, melted against his own flesh.  _ Lucky.  _ How was he lucky? Stephen was a doctor. He knew he would never have his face back, his hands back. How the fuck was he lucky?

“You crashed, you know, there was a leak, and then it exploded and… They brought you here. I was… I was the first.” she swallowed. “To see you. You came to the ER and I just… I’m so sorry, Steph. I did… I did everything I could.” he was miles away, his face facing the wall over her shoulder. Clearly,  _ everything _ wasn’t enough.

Stephen shook his head, sending the memory away, a cold breeze touching his half-naked body. After that January Stephen quit his job, sold his penthouse and met Wong. He also never saw Christine again. She tried to act normal, and she did, but her face was a constant reminder to him that he would never have his life back.

Wong was a sorcerer. The man knocked on his door a few months after the accident and never left. Actually, he did. Barely. At first he tried to take Stephen with him to a place called Kamar-Taj, but Stephen said no. He was living in isolation, now, because he couldn’t face people looking at him with pity in their eyes. He just couldn’t. And whatever Kamar-Taj was, he definitely couldn’t go there and have those people looking at him like that. He knew that expression. He had seen too much of it during the months after the accident, so he just… Stayed. He decided to leave his life behind and expect nothing from people, so for two months the only people he had some contact with were the nurses from the hospital, and after he was discharged nobody saw him for two months, nobody except from the man from the 24-hour convenience store two blocks away from the apartment he bought in Greenwich Village. 

And then Wong appeared, and he invited Stephen to take him to a different place, so Stephen just said no, but Wong kept showing up, completely indifferent to the fact that Stephen didn’t have a presentable face, as Stephen once said, so for two years Wong was the only man Stephen allowed himself to maintain a friendship with.

On a rainy day of October, nine months after the accident, Wong looked at him, conjuring a book in front of them. 

The first time he and Stephen talked about magic, a couple of months after Wong’s first visit, Stephen didn’t take very well, and it took Wong a couple of weeks to return, but by that time things were actually better when it came to magic. 

“I have a proposal for you.” Stephen muted the tv, interested. “There’s a spell…” Stephen smiled, which was still hard. It was weird enough for him to have a friend conjuring books and talking about spells the way Wong did.

“Please do continue.” Wong opened the book, waving his hands in the air and stopped the movement when he found the page he was looking for.

“There’s an old spell, I’ve never done it, but my master told me about it once and I think you’d find it interesting. Inaspecta.”

And that’s how he got there. Wong explained to him about the spell, how Stephen would become invisible, like completely invisible, how he would be able to walk around New York when he wanted and people wouldn’t see him, except if he allowed them to, and Stephen didn’t think twice before saying yes. That’s why he could walk around New York City on a Friday at six am wearing only underwear.

He was walking around 6th avenue when the door was opened. Stephen froze, scared, because the movement and the man were so loud that it just paralized him. He came out, carrying two duffle bags and putting them in the trunk of a car right in front of the building. 

“Come on, son, we’re gonna be late!” Stephen stayed there, unable to move, watching him, his mouth opened, his heart beating fast.

“CALM DOWN, MAN. I’M GOING.” Stephen heard this teenager yell, and the sixteen-year-old boy appeared, with a grey backpack on his shoulder, holding his phone with one hand and closing the door with the other. 

Stephen held his breath when the boy walked next to him and he turned around, to go back home. The man putting his bags in the trunk raised his head, noticing someone else.

“Hey perv! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Stephen’s eyes widened, his heart beating so fast he could feel it in his throat. That man could see him, but how?  
  


* * *

Tony Stark is running, as he always is. Peter is behind him, putting his backpack around his shoulders. Tony touches his pockets, making a mental list of everything he would need. His wallet is there, the car keys are there, his phone is there, his driver’s licence is probably there, Peter’s documents are there, he’s sure there’s money in his wallet and some more hidden inside his bag. He’s okay.

His bag! He makes a mental list of everything there too. He’s sure he packed some underwear, socks, jeans, t-shirts, jackets, a couple of button-up shirts. He  _ is  _ okay.

His charger! Did he get his charger? He stops, halfway down the stairs, to make sure he got his charger. Yes, yes, he did. A few seconds later and he’s already outside. 

“Come on, son! We’re gonna be late!” he screams, not caring much that it is only six thirty in the morning. They’re already late.

“CALM DOWN, DAD! I’m going” he hears, and he’s sure Peter is in the hallway, then he hears the door of the building closing. Tony finished organizing the only two bags inside the trunk and closed it, noticing someone he hasn’t noticed before. The man is wearing black boxers, only black boxers, barefoot, his back to them. Tony almost can’t believe it. Who the fuck was that guy, and what the fuck was that pervert doing wearing only underwear around Greenwich Village?

Peter is already in the car, typing a text to MJ when he hears his dad saying “Hey, perv, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he takes his eyes out of his phone, to look for someone, but the street is empty.

“Dad, are you okay?” Tony hears Peter ask. The sixteen-year-old boy was looking around, trying to understand why his dad was yelling. “Who are you yelling at?” he frowned.

“The perv walking around wearing boxers” Peter kept looking, noticing that they were the only two people there.

“Are you sleeping well? I told you to start drinking decaf coffee” Tony is leaning on the car window.

“There’s a man there, kid, can’t you see it?” Peter is genuinely scared. For a moment he thinks it’s a joke, but then he notices his dad’s tone.

“Just get in, okay? Stop joking around, we’ll be late” Tony rolls his eyes, looking one more time, but the man disappeared.

“Are you sure you didn’t see anyone?” Tony asks, starting the car. Peter looks at him, an annoyed expression on his face.

“Dad, do you want me to drive?” Tony frowns, still wondering if Peter didn’t see the man, or if he’s lying. Realizing that Tony is not going to leave without Peter giving him an answer, the boy sighs. “No, dad, I didn’t see anyone, can we go?”


	2. Chapter 2

Stephen is scared. He's sweating and his hands are shaking. He's out of breath, after running all the way back to his place, his back is against the door and he thinks he’s about to faint. How did that man see him? For sixteen months now Stephen has been walking around New York, going to parks and museums without a single person noticing him, but now, when he decides to leave his place at six am on a Friday, this random man, putting his bags in the trunk of a car can see him? How?

He’s panicking, and for the first time in two years, he’s terrified of leaving the apartment again, dressed or not.

He never had problems with leaving the apartment half-naked, but he certainly almost never left the apartment like that, except when he truly, really wanted to feel something, and the desire to feel something, even if it were the freezing wind of February in his half-naked body was usually more common during that time of the year. Exact two years and thirty-two days since the accident, and he was counting. He felt like going to therapy, he felt like going back, socializing, meeting people more than never and he knew he couldn’t keep doing that, he knew he couldn’t keep ignoring his mind, his sadness, his emptiness, so the way he felt, the way he found to help him feel slightly alive had been walking around in the freezing cold barefoot and almost naked around dawn, the spell working so nobody could see him. If nobody can see you what’s the problem with that? Except someone could. 

One hour later, after a cold shower and ignoring Wong’s calls, he opened Loki’s texts, in an attempt to forget everything that happened.

His friendship, if you can call it that, with Loki started out of the blue, six months before, when the cafe owner accidentally texted him, instead of one of his suppliers. They started texting, eventually calling each other and sending each other pictures or articles they thought would be interesting. Besides his friendship with Wong, having someone that cared about him like Loki did was heartwarming. Of course, Loki didn’t know about him. About the accident. He thought Stephen was a self-employed writer, because Stephen was always too embarrassed to share with anyone else how much of a failure he was. He looked at the screen. Three messages.

**“Hey, I’m leaving to Rhode Island, so I'll talk to you later.”**

**“Please, don’t die of boredom without me”**

**“Btw, your last chance, there’s still time if you wanna go, I’d like to have you there ;)”**

Stephen smiled, then the smile turned into a sad expression. Loki was a nice guy, and Stephen liked him, and that’s why he couldn’t face the idea of Loki looking at him like Stephen was some sort of freak. That’s why all the photos he had sent Loki were old, that’s why they never talked through video, and that’s why he couldn’t go to Rhode Island, even though he never wanted anything more in his life. Have people around again, have dinner with a bunch of people, laugh, go for a walk with someone, drink a glass or two of wine… It sounded too good to be true, so he just stayed there, staring at his phone.

**“I’m sorry, I can’t. But you can keep me posted, I’d love to see that. Please, tell your brother-in-law and your brother I said happy anniversary”**

He waited for the text, staring at the screen the whole time, anxious. It didn’t take long for Loki to reply.

**“My brother said ‘thank you, kind sir’ and Bruce said: ‘Thank you, buddy, can’t wait to finally meet you’ and I said:** **_I_ ** **can’t wait to meet you. How are you?”**

Stephen took a deep breath, staring at the wall. How was he? He could tell Loki the truth, he could tell Loki everything, right? He was never going to see the man in person, anyway, but something inside him just… Couldn’t. He couldn’t give him the luxury of losing one of the only two friends he had had in the past two years, and even though he wasn’t going to see Loki, texting Loki was good, listening to that deep voice was good, and the thought of losing that only made Stephen feel worse.

**“I'm good. Kinda bored, so please forgive me if I die of boredom when you stop replying ;)”**

Loki smiled, reading the text and replied right away.

**“Let's make sure that doesn't happen, then”**

Stephen was the one smiling, this time. He took a deep breath.

**“I'm kidding, forget about me for a while and enjoy your family and friends for us”**

Thor and Bruce glanced at each other when they heard Loki chuckle, the first one just for a split second because he was driving. It was a concerned look. The couple knew something about that whole “I met a guy and we are texting” thing would go downstairs too quickly. They knew that that Stephen guy, whoever he was, was going to break Loki's heart and they didn't know what to do about it. The fact that said man lived only one neighborhood away from Loki and in over six months they had never actually met was concerning, and kept both talking about it countless times at night.

**“hm, you said us”** Stephen held his breath, reading the text. He never wanted to give Loki hope, because nothing was going to happen between them, even though he really missed the physical contact and all the feelings that came with a relationship.

**“Well, you and me, I mean, us as individuals, you know?”** Loki raised his eyebrows and only texted:

**“Yes, I think I do. Us as two different people”**

The conversation stopped. Stephen didn't know what to say, because he thought about breaking Loki's heart, and that would mean breaking his own.

Around lunch, Stephen had already finished the last book Wong gave him, when the sorcerer opened the door, bringing them lunch.

“Hey, Stephen” Stephen was up, looking at him, wearing sweatpants and a shirt, barefoot.

“We need to talk,” Wong nodded, finding his tone weird.

  
  


Thirty minutes after leaving New York Tony stopped at a gas station, to make sure he and Peter would have enough candy and water for the next 4 hours. He called Bruce.

“Hey, you dicks, happy anniversary” Bruce rolled his eyes on the other side of the line and Tony heard Thor laughing.

“You’ve already texted us, Tony, you don’t have to call me, too, plus we’re seeing each other in four hours” Peter is not paying attention. He stopped next to the counter, waiting for Tony to grab every pack of cookies, chips, and all the bottles of water he could, putting everything on the counter.

“I know, but I needed to tell you this thing that happened. New York is weird, man” Bruce and Thor waited, Tony waited for a second, looking at Peter. “Do you want something? Last chance” the boy rolled his eyes because he knew they, by any chance, were going to eat all of that. “So, I was putting our bags in the car, and this man came out of nowhere wearing only underwear, I swear to god, I almost punched a perv today, and it was only six in the morning” Bruce and Thor exchanged a glance. Peter took the phone from Tony’s hand, to talk to them.

“There was no naked man, uncle Bruce,” Peter said, removing one of his earphones. “Happy anniversary, by the way”

“Thank you, kid. So, your dad is seeing naked men, now?” Peter smiled.

“Yeah, apparently. He started yelling, but I swear, there was no one there, I think he’s, you know...” Tony opened his mouth.

“Okay, enough. You, back to the car, now, and take this with you” Tony handed him a plastic bag full of things and opened his wallet, to pay the man on the other side of the counter. “Have a good day” the man nodded and left the convenience store. “Is Loki there?”

“Yes, I am, my dear friend” Tony heard him saying.

“So, are you bringing that apparently hot friend of yours?”

“No, I am not, he didn’t wanna come” Tony chuckled.

“Oh, love, I didn’t wanna say anything, but I think you’re being catfished, you know? It’s been half a year and he’s never agreed on meeting you, and he fucking lives in New York, or at least that’s what he says” Loki rolled his eyes.

“He is real, Tones, we've talked, you know, we call each other all the time” Tony closed one of his eyes.

“Yeah, alright, if you say so. I’m gonna go, now, see you guys in four hours” the man put his phone away, grabbing a bag of blue Doritos.

“Do you want some?” Peter shook his head, denying it. “Your loss” the boy is staring at his phone.

“Dad, I think you’re thirsty,” Tony looked at him, frowning.

“What do you mean? I’ve drunk a bottle of water already” Peter rolled his eyes, looking at him and finally grabbing some chips out of the bag.

“Not that kind of thirsty. MJ thinks too. You know, seeing a naked man that doesn’t exist” Tony opened his mouth. The fact that his son was talking about his sex life…

“Okay, you listen to me, I’m not talking about that with a bunch of kids, okay? It’s none of your business, I know what I saw” Peter smiles, looking at his phone again.

“Oh, Neds thinks you're thirsty too” he’s looking at Tony, now, smiling.

“What are they doing awake before seven in the morning? I can't even take you out of bed before eleven! And if you keep talking about my private life with your friends I swear you’re gonna be grounded until September” The boy is smiling, thinking the situation is way too funny. Tony smirked, knowing how he was going to get his revenge.

“Can you give me your earphones?” Peter frowned, trying to understand. “now!”

The boy did what he asked, still curious about what Tony was doing. The man hid the earphones under his left leg, turning the radio on.

“Welcome to four hours of Black Sabbath” Peter looked at him, desperate.

“Oh, dad, come on, don’t do this” Tony smirked. “‘I’ll stop, I’ve already stopped, but please don’t” Tony was almost laughing.

“What do you mean? It’s only four hours, I bet you’re gonna love it” Peter looked at him, shaking his head, his eyes widened in terror with the idea of four hours of Heavy Metal. “Oh, it’s so much better than that Elephant in a cage you listen to”

“It’s Cage the Elephant, and it’s not, dad”

“Okay, I’ll tell you this, we’re gonna listen to thirty minutes of my songs, and then you’ll have thirty minutes to listen to anything you want, then it’s my turn again and we’re gonna do this for the next four hours, deal?” Peter took a deep breath, nodding.

Peter left the car, kneeling on the floor when his dad parked.

“Thank god, it’s over!” Bruce, Thor, and Loki were already waiting for them when they arrived. The couple laughed when they saw the kid making a scene.

“Oh, you put the poor kid to listen to your songs again?” Loki asked, getting close enough to kiss Tony’s cheeks.

“Well, you know, someone has to,” Loki laughed, his arms around Tony, and Peter kept his eyes on them for a second.

**“What do you guys think about my dad and uncle Loki, you know…”** he texted the group chat.

**“Seriously, dude, just let your dad find someone on his own”** MJ replied.

**“I agree, Peter, like it would be kinda weird, you know, setting your dad up to Loki like that”** He rolled his eyes. Okay, it would be.

**“Loki ♥♥ sent you a link”** Stephen opened the message, opening the link. It was like his heart had stopped. He held his breath, looking at the picture, the anxiety from that morning hitting him again. The link was from Loki’s profile to a picture of him with a teenager, and Stephen recognized the kid. The same kid from that morning. The other picture was a man, shorter than Loki, kissing his cheek.  _ That man _ . Loki knew the man from that morning, the man who could see Stephen, even when he was under Wong’s spell, even when Stephen totally didn't want the stranger to see him. He fucking knew that man.

Peter and Loki were alone. The older one was texting Stephen, smiling.

“So, who’s the guy?” Loki looked at him.

“Sorry?” Peter smiled at him, trying to show Loki that there was no point in lying. “His name is Stephen Strange, we've been talking for a while, and I invited him to come with us, but he couldn't,.”

“Can I see him?” Loki nodded. He opened the man’s icon, to a picture of Stephen smirking, staring at the camera, wearing a blue shirt and Peter almost got lost in his eyes. “Wow, he’s handsome” Loki smiled. “You’ve never told me about him,” Loki sighed.

“No, I didn’t, because I don’t think it’s gonna work” Peter looked at him, frowning.

“What do you mean? Just ask him on a date, do something, you’re gonna let this man go?” Loki was actually listening.

“It’s not that simple” Peter opened his mouth, shocked. It was so fucking simple!

“Hi, would you like to go on a date with me? Oh, okay, Friday at eight? Okay, bye. Oh my God, you’re right, it sounds so difficult” Loki rolled his eyes. “Just fucking do it”

“Language, kid” Peter shook his head. Language, yeah right.

“Okay, go back to your boyfriend” Loki took his phone again, and Peter grabbed his own, opening the group chat.

**“Loki is in love!!”**

**“WITH YOUR DAD??????”** MJ text was so… Extra that Peter actually smiled.

**“Not my dad. A guy named Stephen Strange and damn the guy is hot”**

**“HOLY FUCK HOLY FUCKING FUCK”** That was MJ.

**“** **WHAT????”**

**“FUCKJNG STEPHRN STRANGE OH MT GOD, OJ MU GPD” Peter frowned. What?**

**“You know him?”** That was Ned. Peter waited for the answer.

**“FUCK I DO KNOW STEPHEN STRANGE, HOLY FUCK THE MAN IS A LIVING LEGEND, WAIT… There, the man is a legend, literally. You guys remember my cousin Ella, right?”**

**“The hot one? Of course”** Peter could almost feel MJ rolling her eyes reading Ned’s text.

**“She’s in med school, and she talks about him like all the time. Apparently, he had like hundreds of successful surgeries, and then, two years ago the guy just disappeared, like, literally, no one knows about him, and it seems like there was this accident. People say there was an explosion and that he’s so awesome that left the explosion walking. I mean, how amazing is that?”** Peter frowned. He looked at Loki.

“Hey, uncle Loki, can I ask you something? About your friend?” Loki nodded. “What does he do?”

“He's a writer” Peter nodded, returning his attention to his phone.

**“Uncle Loki said he's a writer”** he texted, waiting for MJ’s reply.

**“Stephen Strange sold his penthouse in Chelsea and left behind his hundreds of successful surgeries to become a writer? Sounds fake”** Peter smiled.

**“Okay, so your super doc walks away from an explosion, but you can't believe he stopped being a doctor to become a writer? Guess what sounds fake?”** Ned replied.

**“It doesn't add up, I mean, the man is a legend, he could operate your brain with a coconut”** If Ned was there he and Peter would have glanced at each other, rolling their eyes to the ridiculous idea of a man operating their brain with a coconut.

**“Okay, M, I don't think we're talking about the same man, I mean, it really doesn't make sense the guy leaving all that to become a writer”**

**“Gimme a sec”** She answered. A few seconds later she sent them a picture of Stephen.

**“Is that him?”** Peter raised his eyebrows.

**“Yep, the handsome man himself”**

**“God, you're so weird, sometimes,”** she said.  **“I can’t believe Stephen Strange is actually alive, OH MY GOD”** Peter smiled.

**“What did you mean by 'disappeared'?”** he asked.

**“Well, I hang out with Ella and her friends from med school, and they all have theories about what happened to the guy. Apparently, he was a proper genius, and he literally disappeared. He sold his multi-million dollar penthouse, quit his job and no one heard about him. A few of them think he was dying, this girl said once that she thinks he was kidnapped by the North Korean government, because he found a way to control the human brain and they were using him, a few think he just retired, moved to another country, lost both hands… Anyway, there are a lot of stories, but now he’s alive, and texting Loki? Shit, Ella is gonna freak out”**

**“My dad is a genius. You don’t talk about him like that”** Peter said. Ned texted, too.

**“Okay, but we didn’t acknowledge the fact that she knows where he used to live? Weirdo”** Ned says.

**“Oh, come on. He was all famous and stuff, and Peter, your dad is awesome, but I heard Ella talk about this guy for four years, and they still do.”**

**“So, why do you guys think he disappeared?”** Peter asked.

**“Maybe he snapped.”** Ned said.

**“Maybe he was kidnapped, escaped and now he’s just trying to stay hidden.”** MJ says.

**“Do you guys wanna find out?”** Peter asked.

**“Okay, stop, I know where the guy used to live bc they used to gossip about it, but we’re not stalking him, you’re creepy, get out”** Peter rolls his eyes and puts his phone away when he sees Thor, Bruce and Tony arriving. They were going out for dinner.

“Finally!” Loki says, exhaling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!!!  
> I hope you liked it  
> See you in the future :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLOO!!!!  
> Invisible Man is my favorite thing in the world istg  
> I hope you're enjoying it!!!

Stephen is awake. He can’t sleep, because he can’t stop thinking about the man, and how much of him he actually saw. He can’t stop thinking about how that man knew Loki, how close them seemed to be, and why he thought it was a good idea to leave his place wearing only underwear despite the fact that no one could see him.

Wong had said he didn’t know why the man could see him, but deep down he knew that was some sort of lie. Wong was too smart and too good and the idea of him putting a spell on Stephen without fully understanding it sounded unreal.

He walked around the apartment, but there was nothing interesting to do. He had already read all the books that he had twice, and the house was too clean to be true. Two years. 

Two years doing this. Cleaning, reading, walking around New York, two years unemployed, trying to occupy his mind enough so it wouldn't be bad for his mental health.

“How is that going for you?” he asked himself, knowing the answer.

He thinks for a while, looking through the window, his heart beating fast. The thing is: the only person that can actually see him, apart from Wong, is Loki's friend. His name is Tony, by the way, because yes, he stalked Loki to know that. So, Tony is the only person capable of seeing him, and Tony is in Rhode Island with his son, Loki and Loki's family. Stephen is okay.

He goes back to his bedroom, putting some clothes on and leaves the apartment. It's four in the morning.

The man wants to cry. He's done that a lot lately, because he knows he can't live his life like that, the rest of his life in his apartment, waiting for Wong to do the groceries, waiting for death to finally appear and release him from all that pain. He can't do that.

He turned left, on Bleecker Street, passing in front of the sanctum. He had been there before, with Wong, when the man tried to convince Stephen to go to Kamar-Taj. 

The voices were coming from the alley a couple of blocks away from the Sanctum. At first, he thought it was just a bunch of kids joking around, maybe smoking something, but he stopped when he heard the girl’s voice asking them to leave her alone. He didn’t think twice.

“Okay, spell, time to go” he whispered, allowing people to see him. He got closer to three teenagers putting this girl against the wall.

“Party is over, time to go to bed” They looked at him, a few opening their mouths, scared. “Yes, now get the fuck out of here”

All the three of them left, running. The girl smiled at him.

“Thank you.” he pressed his lips together, forcing a smile and reached down to get her backpack on the floor. 

“Are you hungry?” He asked, looking at her. She was probably fifteen, or something. Her hair was dirty and her clothes were wrinkled. It was probably two degrees outside. 

“What?” she looks at him confused. There’s something about her, something about the way she didn’t even blink when he got closer, when she saw his face. 

“Well, you know, hungry. Where are you from? What are you doing out here alone at four in the morning?”

“Brooklyn Heights. I was. And yes, I am hungry.”

“There’s a diner a few blocks from here.”

“Are you paying?” Stephen smiled. 

“You’re not scared. Of me.” She smiled, gently.

“Why would I be? Are you dangerous?” 

“People usually are.” She sees in the way his eyes stare at the wall over her shoulder, lost, lightless. There’s a lot of pain there, of how the world had treated him, and she understands. Oh, how she understands.

“Can I drink a milkshake too?” And she sees this light cross his face, like hope. She had said yes to him, he would have someone to talk to for a moment. He nods and she throws the heavy backpack over her shoulder. “Lead the way. I’m Wanda.”

“I’m Stephen. Strange.” She walks with him and five minutes later they’re opening the diner’s door. Stephen is by the entrance, his foot glued on the ground, incapable of moving. He looks at her, who’s holding the door for him. He can do that. He can enter the place. 

There are only five customers inside and now, with Stephen and her, there are seven. They seat at the table and she studies the menu as a waitress walks in their direction. Stephen knows, he can feel it. It’s almost like his sixth sense, the way the waitress avoids looking at him, focusing her eyes on Wanda. 

“A cheeseburger, extra fries and a strawberry milkshake, please.”

“A chocolate one for me, please. Thank you.” and Wanda notices how he’s staring at the table the whole time, incapable of looking at her. 

“What are you doing walking around Greenwich alone late at night?” he asks after the woman leaves. 

“It’s complicated.” She says, and she’s thankful she’s inside the diner, because it’s warm inside. 

“Believe me, I understand complicated. Do you wanna talk about it?” 

Does she? She's not sure. She hasn't said those words out loud for a long time. .Also she doesn't know how he would react. I mean what if he decided that he wouldn't pay for the food anymore?

“I came out to my parents a couple of days ago. Actually, my brother told my parents about me a couple of days ago.” He looks at her, his eyebrows raised. “Yeah, clearly it didn’t go well. They kicked their daughter out in the freezing cold of February, so here I am. I tried the shelter last night, it was the worst experience of my life being sixteen and a girl there, so I’ve decided to take the streets.”

“What do you think of a bed for the night?” Stephen didn’t have to think much, he just knew he had to do something. 

“Why would you do that?”

“I came out to parents four years ago, and if it was hard for me to watch them turn their backs on me when I was already successful and thriving I can only imagine how hard it is for you. You can take a shower, sleep as much as you want.” She thought about it. There was some mild trust there, about how heartbroken, lonely and sad the man in front of her looked. There was some feeling that for once she could trust someone.

Stephen thought the same thing. Actually, he decided what were the things she could take from him as he slept during the night but he had learned his lesson when it came to real goods. There was nothing he needed that a homeless sixteen-year-old girl wouldn’t need more than him. 

“Okay.” she said, and the waitress came with their orders, putting everything on the table without looking at them. Stephen raised his eyebrows at Wanda, and she understood and smiled. The way the woman seemed completely uncomfortable with him there.

(...)

“You can keep the bed. The bathroom is over there, there are clean towels and soap in the cabinet inside.” She nodded. He grabbed a few blankets and a pillow and left her alone in the bedroom.

The first thing Wanda noticed was how clean the apartment was. It felt like it came straight from a real estate website. The second thing she noticed was that there were no mirrors anywhere. No mirrors in the bathroom, in the bedroom, in the living room. No mirrors. The other thing she noticed was the bookshelves in the second bedroom, which she only noticed because she glanced to look at what was inside while he showed her the main bedroom. SO. MANY. BOOKS. She felt like a kid in a water park. 

The shower was good. Long. Warm. She probably stayed in there for twenty to thirty minutes, because it was the first shower she was taking in two days, so she gave that to herself, and then she went back to the bedroom fully dressed and noticed that the bed had got a new set of clean sheets. 

She went to the living room to find him sitting on the couch, reading the same book for the third time that year. 

“You can put your clothes in the washing machine if you want. And if you need anything just grab it in the kitchen.” She was a little lost. He was still staring at the book, barely blinking, as he pointed to the things in the kitchen.

“The washing machine is inside the closet next to the fridge. Make yourself at home, I guess.” She nodded, unsure of what to say. She felt she was trespassing, like she was invading someone else’s home, and he didn’t care about it? Just take whatever you want from the fridge? What was that? But she went there, put her clothes in the washing machine, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and stopped in the middle of the living room.

“Thank you.” He finally looked at her, as she gave him a polite smile.

“You’re welcome. Have a good night.” She nodded. 

“You too.” and she left him alone. He read a bit more, and a little after five am he texted Loki.

**“There’s a 16yo girl in my apartment.”** and the reply came sooner than he expected. Loki texted him thirty seconds later. He frowned, unlocking the screen.

**“What the hell are you talking about?”**

**“I found her. She’s homeless, I think. Her parents kicked her out. What are you doing awake?”**

**“Tony and I are trying to stay awake to watch the sunrise. What are you doing?”** _ Tony. Tony. Tony. Tony. That Tony. _

**“I went for a walk and she was in an alley, I gave her some food and now she’s in my house.”**

**“What are you doing, then?”**

**“I don’t know. She seems like a good kid, I don’t wanna send her away in the cold like that?"**

**“You’re raising her, or something?”**

**“I’m not raising her. I just wanna help. I have a house in Washington Park? If she wants?”**

**“You’re giving a 16yo a house in Washington Park? Do you know how weird that sounds?”**

**“I mean, what the hell am I supposed to do?”**

**“I don’t know. Whatever you do I’m here for you.”**

**“Thank you”** and the messages stopped. Stephen threw his phone on the couch and put his head on the pillow, trying to sleep. Maybe it was the almost twenty-four hours he had been awake, maybe it was the cold outside, but he slept, despite the fact that he could wake up and half his things were gone. 

Wanda took her time to sleep. Not really her time, but her brain wouldn’t turn off. She thought about what could have happened if Stephen hadn’t shown up and she felt slightly disgusting. She thought about how she was sleeping in someone else’s bed, she thought about how the past couple of days had been, how it made her feel diminished, small, useless, dirty. She thought about the streets, about how cold it was and how she could never sleep outside like that, she thought about her phone, how she hadn’t had a text since she left through the front door, how she expected Bec to text her, despite everything that had happened, how she expected her mom or dad text asking her to come back because it was too cold outside. There wasn’t a text. Not even a single one.

There was something else. There was the idea of being in a complete stranger's house, sleeping in their bed, taking a shower in his bathroom, I mean, what if he was a serial killer? What if he kidnapped her? Killed her? What if he were just playing cool to bring her in? So by the time her brain finally stopped overthinking it was already morning outside. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do y'all think??  
> See you tomorrow!!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and we're back!!!!!!

It snowed the next morning. It snowed so much that she didn’t even try to leave the apartment, so she just stayed. She cooked them breakfast, helped him clean the kitchen, and went to the spare bedroom and looked at all the books, all the options. There was probably a hundred thousand dollars in books in there and she just stayed there analyzing every title, figuring out the way he organized all of that. When she finally left the room there was someone else in the room. Wong. 

She stayed there in the small hallway, staring at the man wearing some sort of robe, covered from head to toe in a brown cloth. 

“Stephen, there’s a kid in your apartment?” He looked at her and then looked back at him.

“Yeah. This is Wanda. Wanda this is Wong.” he’s confused. He’s too confused.

“She can _see_ you?” and she’s the one confused now. She’s looking at him, frowning. What does that mean? 

“How did you get here? There’s so much snow outside we can’t even see the street.” 

“You know.” Wong said, looking at Stephen. They exchanged a look.

“Is your name just Wong? How does that work? Hi, I’m Wong, just Wong?” Stephen is hiding his smile behind his glass of juice. 

“What can I say? We found each other.” He said, looking at him, a half smile on his face. “That’s what I asked him the first time. He’s not from here, he’s from Nepal.”

“China” Wong corrected. Stephen frowned.

“Oh. I thought..”

“No. So, why is there a girl in your house?”

“It’s temporary. He’s a good person, I guess.” Stephen smiled. 

But she never left. The first week was the strangest and she slept the lightest sleep of her life, always waking up to any sound. Stephen also had a light sleep during that time, and Wanda never asked why (she had an idea, of course. His face), but he stayed inside that entire time, except when he left at one in the morning to buy food in the twenty-four hour grocery store a few blocks from there. She went back to school after the first week of being kicked out, and Stephen started thinking that one day she would leave for school and she wouldn’t come back, but that didn’t happen. She used to go to a public high school near pier 25, for gifted students, and according to Loki that was also the school Peter used to go to. Peter. _That Peter._

Loki had been a great friend during that time, and he would listen to Stephen talk about what was happening for hours, if Stephen needed to.

Wanda started helping him to cook, to clean the house, they would stay in the book room for hours a day, after she got home from school, reading books, and she started teaching him how to play rummy, and they played chess together most nights, and by the second week they were as comfortable as they could in each other’s company. Wong would show up often, bringing them food, or just to play cards with them, and Wanda started sleeping better as the time passed.

After the third week Stephen sent Wong to some stores with her so they could buy what she needed, and they started converting the spare room into a room for her. He put some shelves in the living room, put some shelves in his room and put a few books inside the closet in the hallway, so she would have the room all to herself. The books she liked the most Stephen let her keep in her room. Some afternoons she would leave the apartment and take the subway to Union square and she would stay there for a few hours, alone, drawing something or just watching people pass by.

After the seventh week, with Wong’s help, he finally told her about the spell. They had a conversation about magic, which in her head was probably the craziest but coolest thing she could have learned about them. Wong explained how spells worked, he told her half the truth about Stephen’s spell.

“Can you teach me?” Wong looks at Stephen, who raised his eyebrows.

“She wants you to teach her magic.” 

“No” he says, simply. 

“Why not?”

“I’m not teaching a sixteen year old girl, I’m not taking her to Kamar-Taj, no.”

“Wong, she wants to learn. That’s more than I wanted when we met.” 

“That’s different. You are an adult, you knew the dangers, the consequences, I am not teaching a child, you had your entire life, you could fight for the cause, I am not teaching her.”

“Wong, please”

“She wants to learn.” He says, as she looks at Wong with puppy eyes in the hopes that it would convince him.

“You should be on my side, here, she’s just a kid.”

“Okay, fine. I think you shouldn’t go to Kamar-Taj.” Stephen says. He looks at her. “I think Wong should teach you while you’re still in school, and after your graduation, if you still want to go he can take you there.” Wong is looking at him.

“Okay, I can do that. I can do both. School and magic. Please, Wong, I’ll be the best student you’ve ever had.” 

“I’ve never had any students,” Wanda smiles.

“See? I already am.” Stephen laughs. “Can I do it?” She’s looking at him, now. Asking for permission. Is more than fair, she thinks. Like asking a family member for permission. That’s what she felt by then, like family. Stephen had offered his hand when Wanda had absolutely nothing, after losing everything she knew, and their loneliness became each other’s company. They had each other. At first she would cry in the shower, in silence, because she had lost her family, and then she found one in him. He had taught her how to cook, he had shown her his favorite books, the books that would change the way she saw things, he had taught her what he knew about art, about music and she taught him what she could about pop culture, and all the card games she knew. That’s what she felt he was. Family. The lack of text messages from her biological family wasn’t that important anymore, she had learned. Family is not blood, and the messages she had then were Stephen’s texts asking her if she wanted something from the grocery store, or if she was okay every time she left home to go somewhere.

She got a text from Pietro some day around the first week of April.

**“Can we talk? Where have you been? Do you want something from your old room?”**

**“Gregory’s 2 pm.”** She texted him and sent him a list of everything she wanted back from her house. After lunch she changed her clothes and went back to the living room.

“Steph? Can I go out? I’ll be back before six.” 

“Sure, do you need some money?”

“I’m good. Do we need anything?”

“We’re fine. I was thinking we could have pizza tonight, what do you think?”

“Sounds nice. I’ll bring us ice cream, then!” she said and left the apartment taking the subway to Bryant Park. 

Her brother was waiting for her, shaking his legs, anxious, an entire suitcase of things she asked from her bedroom. He got up, when she arrived, but before he could kiss her cheek she sat in front of him.

“I’m so sorry, Wands. I never thought…” She raised her eyebrows to him.

“Yeah, precisely.”

“Wands, I…” he stopped himself. “Are you okay? Where have you been?”

“I’m okay. I met a man, his name’s Stephen, he used to be a doctor, and he gave me a home. He saved me. He’s a great guy, and he’s my family now.”

“I am your family.” he said, hurt. “Look, I know I fucked things up, I know that. I tried to fix my own mistake and I threw you to the lions to do that, and I’m so sorry, but I’ll always be here for you.”

“Oh, really? Do you know where I was supposed to be, if Stephen hadn’t found me during the biggest blizzard of the year? On the streets. And the storm came and I stayed in the apartment and I never left, and do you know what you did after they threw me on the streets like an empty box of donuts? Absolutely nothing. That’s what you did. Do you know how many times he saved my life by inviting me to stay? Because I don’t. You’re not my family, you’re my blood and that’s something I can’t change. I trusted you, I told you my biggest secret and you used it without thinking about me.”

“Did you tell Becca?”

“Why would I? We broke up. Oh, there’s also that. You told mom and dad about me when I wasn’t even in a relationship anymore. I broke up with my best friend, my girlfriend and a week later you broke my trust and my parents threw me away. Stephen is the good thing about my life now, and I’m glad we found each other.”

“I’m so sorry, Wandz. I am.”

“Just fucking stop apologizing. Thank you for the stuff.” she got up, grabbed the suitcase and left him there. She found herself in Bryant Park, crying for an hour before going back to the apartment. When she opened the door Stephen was cleaning the apartment again.

“I said I’d help you with that.”

“Yeah, but I got bored. What’s that?” he pointed to the orange suitcase.

“It’s from my brother. I kinda saw him.” he stopped cleaning, holding the mop in the middle of the living room. 

“How was that?”

“He apologized a lot. Asked where I was staying. Apologized again.”

“Are you okay?” 

“Yeah. I’ll put this in the fridge.” She took the suitcase to the kitchen so she could put the ice cream pints in the freezer. 

“Wanda? If you need to talk…” She looked at him from the kitchen. 

“I know. Thank you.” he gave her a smile.

“Wong stopped by. He left you these.” Stephen pointed to a pile of three books on the counter that separated the kitchen and the living room.

“ARE YOU KIDDING?” She took the books and the suitcase to her room.

After the talk about magic they started going to places together, Stephen only visible for her, and she started wearing earphones when that happened so she wouldn’t look like she was talking to herself. During their walks he would tell her stories about certain buildings, what certain musicians played in a certain teather, and they would go to museums and art galleries together.

In the second week of April Stephen sent her parents the guardianship forms. They signed it. Then, in the first week of August, he went to the courthouse to start the adoption process. They had talked about that a lot by that point. He made sure that's what he wanted and it felt right. At first, when she arrived it was like a weird roommate situation, where you don't know the person well, and then they were friends and everything evolved and it felt like family. For her she was being adopted by the coolest and most intelligent human she would ever meet, and in his mind Wanda had been the best thing that had happened to him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it!!!!!  
> Now Tony and Stephen can meet again!!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EHRHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEEHEEHEH

**“GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”** Peter waited for MJ and Ned to reply. 

**“What?”** He almost got disappointed with MJ’s text. 

**“I KNOW YOU GUYS TOLD ME NOT TO, BUT THAT WAS LIKE MONTHS AGO”** He sent.  **“SO I KINDA GOT STEPHEN STRANGE’S NUMBER FROM UNCLE LOKI’S PHONE AND I KINDA GOT HIS ADDRESS!!!!!!”** MJ is staring at her phone, her mouth half opened, an annoyed expression on her face.

**“I TOLD YOU NOT TO WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT WITH HIM, ANYWAY?”** Peter’s eyes widened.

**“I don’t know, I just wanna understand why he doesn’t wanna see uncle Loki.”** She sent three texts.

**“OH MY GOD. WHERE’S NED????” “NEEEEEEEEEEEED” “NEEEEEEEED I NEED YOU!!!!”**

**“Oh come on, Mj, you wanna see him as much as I do.”**

**“No, I don’t!”**

**“Yes, you do”**

**“No I don’t”**

**“Okay, so I’m gonna go there alone and you won’t be there to stop me from saying something really weird.”** He texted.

**“Fine, I’m going with you but we’re not just gonna ask for him we need a plan.”**

**“He lives around here, he’s practically my neighbor!!!!!” “You should sleep here tonight and we can go there tomorrow morning!”**

**“Okay, Peter Stark, I swear to god I’m gonna punch you in the face someday.”**

**“Just because I can’t go tomorrow?” “What kind of friends are you?”** Ned texted.

**“Sorry, Neddy!!!! We’ll keep you updated.”**

They left Peter’s apartment early that Friday morning. They walked four blocks from his apartment to Stephen’s apartment on Bedford Street.

“Can you hold it for us?” MJ asked when a man was about to leave the building. “Thank you.” She held Peter’s arm when they were inside the building. “What are we gonna say if he answers the door?”

“We can ask for sugar? Maybe three eggs? We can ask him if he has old magazines to give us?" Mj nodded. "Okay, uncle Loki said he lives in apartment two c, so it can't be that hard." Mj followed him upstairs. 

"How did you even ask Loki for his apartment?" Peter smiled.

"I ask a lot of people a lot of things all the time, they've stopped asking questions." They found the white door and knocked. 

"Just magazines." Mj nodded. They heard someone yell something inside and a girl opened the door halfway through a sentence. 

"Wong, Kamar-Taj doesn't need our keys, also you could have just opened a por…" she stopped, looking at them. Mj is smiling uncomfortably and Peter is waving, a big smile on his face. "Can I help?"

"What's  _ Kamarataj?" _ Peter asked.

"I'm sorry, do I know you? The answer is no. What do you want?" Mj can feel her face turning red. Wanda is looking at her.

"I'm sorry about my friend, but we need old magazines?" Wanda looks inside the apartment. 

"Steph, do we have old magazines?" She asks. Peter pokes MJ in the ribs with his elbow. She's almost leaving the door.

"Why does Wong need old magazines?" 

"It's not Wong. There are two people at the door asking for old magazines." 

"Probably in the laundry closet, honey." The voice answers. She came back a few seconds later with three medical magazines.

"So, is he actually in there?" Wanda looks at him, frowned eyebrows. "Stephen Strange."

She takes a deep breath. Unbelievable. 

"Do you see me knocking on your door asking about your family? Fuck off." Peter's face lit up.

"So he  _ is _ your dad? Is that why he stopped practicing?" Mj is embarrassed. Wanda looks at him. "I'm Peter by the way. Peter Stark. Your dad knows my uncle Loki."

"I'm gonna stop you right there and I'll say this once. If you show up here again I'll beat your ass and I'll tell Loki that you're stalking his friends. Goodbye." She's about to close the door on them when MJ finally says something. 

"I'm really sorry. I asked him not to come." 

"You did a really poor job, pretty." Wanda faked a smile. Mj grabbed Peter's arm and dragged him away from there. She waited for them to disappear and finally closed the door behind her.

“Is everything okay?” Stephen asked in the living room.

“A boy stopped by asking about you. He said his name was Peter Stark, and he was Loki’s nephew?” Stephen is staring at her. The only thing he can think about is Tony.  _ Tony. Tony. Tony. _

“Did you send him away?” Wanda nodded. “Good. Thank you. Do you wanna get out? Go for a walk?” He’s weird and Wanda can tell.

“Is everything okay?” Stephen nods.

“Yeah, of course. I just wanna, you know, walk, do something” He left the living room, going back to his room to change his clothes.

MJ looks at him.

“You’re an idiot. I swear, I hate you!” Peter smiles.

“Yes, I am, but she was totally into you” MJ frowns.

“What are you talking about?” Peter is smiling again.

“Oh, seriously? She was totally looking at you, and then she was rude, like for no reason” MJ took a deep breath.

“No, she was rude because you fucking asked her about Strange, like a weirdo, she was entitled to be rude, Peter”

“Oh, MJ, she  _ was  _ into you, just think about that, okay?” She rolled her eyes, walking away. “Come on, don’t be like that!”

“You’re weird, and you just embarrassed me, let’s get out of here”

Stephen looked when he heard the voice cussing. Tony could feel someone staring at him, while he was looking under the hood. 

“if you're gonna stay there, you should at least help” Stephen froze, again. The man looked over his shoulder, and Stephen held his breath. Tony barely moved, as he looked at Stephen. His hands were still on the hood, supporting his weight there. Stephen couldn't move, because he was under the spell, so nobody was supposed to see him. Nobody was supposed to hear him, so the only reasonable explanation was Tony.

And he was certain of it when he saw the man's face. How could he forget the face of the only man in New York City, or probably the world, capable of seeing him?

_ TONY. TONY. TONY. TONY.  _

“So? Give me a hand, come on! Put your bags on the back seat and turn the key for me” Tony said. It took a few seconds for Stephen to act. He did what Tony asked. He put his bags on the back seat and sat behind the wheel.

“Now” Stephen turned the keys, but the car didn't start. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. That's it, I'm buying those kids a new car, this shit is useless” he said to himself.

“Do you need some help?” Stephen finally said. He took a deep breath. If Tony didn't react when he looked at him over his shoulder maybe he couldn't actually see him. Not his real face, at least.

“I have a mechanical engineering degree, I graduated from MIT when I was twenty-one, I design machines, I teach how to design machines and I can't fucking fix a teenager's car,” he said. Stephen pressed his lips together. A bit cocky, he thought, and then he remembered how he used to be when he was practicing.

“Can I?” he got out of the car, getting close to Tony. Tony nodded. He didn't know what that random man could do that he wouldn't have done, already, but it was worth the effort. Stephen looked at the engine and smiled, he put his shaky left hand there for a few seconds, reaching a wire and moving it a but, and then he put both hands in his pockets, to hide the shaking.

‘There, fixed” Tony looked at him and chuckled. 

“Yeah, right!” he said. Stephen raised his eyebrows, going back to the car and turning the key. The car started. He heard Tony laugh, impressed, and he smiled.

“How did you do it? Are you kidding? I did everything I could think of!” Stephen left the car, shutting the door behind him.

“Well, I read a lot,” Tony chuckled, still impressed. “You didn’t think about the wiring, did you?” Tony opened his mouth for a second, before closing it again, his face lit up and he answered:

“Yeah, I didn’t. The solenoid! I thought t was mechanical, not electrical. So, you learned that from a book? No practice? Nothing?”

“Yep, I really read a lot. At some point, I was kinda without options, and I found a book about cars. It wasn’t the best book I’ve read, but at least now I did something with it” Tony was looking at him, fascinated, and Stephen wondered again. He truly didn’t even flinch looking at Stephen. There was no frowning, nothing that would make him think Tony was curious. Nothing.

“Do you wanna grab a drink? I’ll pay, you just saved me from spending a lot of money on a new car, it’s the least I can do.” Stephen took a deep breath. It was like nothing had happened, you know? Like his life was his again. Tony Stark was inviting him to grab a drink and for a second he completely forgot why he had been trapped inside his apartment for two years.

“Sure, I just need to take the bags home, if you don't mind. I don’t live far, and we can find a place” he nodded. Stephen’s heart was beating fast. He took the bags from the back seat and Tony locked the car.

Was he actually going out for drinks with Tony Stark?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH WHAT OK BYE


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OH HELLO!!!!!!!  
> I CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW Y'ALL EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS STORY I'M AIKSJAOSIJSALKSAJ OK

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK IT'S HAPPENING!!!!!  
> SEE Y'ALL SOON!!!

Stephen smirked. They were walking in silence side by side.

“I'm Tony. Tony Stark.” Tony said, interrupting the comfortable silence.

“I'm Stephen Strange.” Tony smiles. It's a funny last name.

“I’ve heard your name before. Stephen.”

“Well, you know, it is a very common name.”

“What do you do? Are you a librarian?” Stephen smiles.

“No, but I have a friend who is”

“Okay, Stephen with a librarian friend, are you going to answer?” Stephen chuckled.

“Hm, I'm retired. I used, past tense, to be a neurosurgeon.”

“Hm, a former neurosurgeon who can fix cars with a librarian friend? Where have you been my whole life?” Tony joked. Stephen laughed.

“You know, opening brains, reading books. You said you design machines?” Tony smiled. He always loved to talk about his job.

“Yes. Custom designed machines. So if you tell me you're gonna start producing soup cans and you need a machine to do that, I'm your guy” Stephen smiles.

“And you teach people how to do that?” Tony nodded.

“I have the factory, and my school. I started teaching people to manage certain components that required some special attention, so I teach my future employees, and when they graduate they'll probably start working for me” Tony looked at him.

“That's smart.” Stephen looked back, smirking.

“Why are you retired?” The taller man took a deep breath.

“Well, life happened, over two years ago, now…” Stephen pondered for a second, wondering if he should do it, he held all the bags with only one hand and stretched the other one. Tony saw the scars and how shaky it was. He wanted to touch it, for some reason. He looked at Stephen, the man balanced the weight of the bags between his hands again.

“That changes things,” Stephen nodded. “so now you read books?”

“Well, basically. I also clean, and I cook when my friend brings me a recipe that's not too weird.” Tony smiled. “I'm going through an adoption process, now so there's also that”

“That also changes things, doesn't it?” Stephen nodded. “I have a son. Peter. I also adopted him. That's why I opened my company, so I could spend more time with him. It's priceless, you know? It's like one day is everything meaningless and suddenly you just can't stop thinking about how you could be even better for them.” Stephen nodded.

“Yeah, I know how it feels.”

They stopped in front of Stephen's building.

“I'll be back in a second” Tony nodded. Stephen went upstairs, opening the door to find Wanda watching a movie with a blanket around her.

“Wow, finally. Did you get lost?” he looked at her.

“Are you okay? Are you sick?” she shook her head, denying.

“I like blankets, they're comfortable. Are  _ you  _ okay? Can we talk about what happened this morning? With that Peter guy? You seem weird” Stephen smiled.

“Don't worry about that,” he said, going to the kitchen. He put the bags on the counter. “It's complicated and it's a long story, and I'll tell you more about it tomorrow, but not now” he went to the door again.

“You're going out? Are you  _ sure  _ you're okay?”

“yes. Can you stay a couple of hours on your own? If I'm not home before you go to bed just make sure the front door is locked, okay?” she nodded. “I bought you that sea salt thing you like” She smiled.

“Goodnight, Steph, have fun!” he nodded. She watched the man leave the room, hugging her knee to her chest. He closed the door behind him.

**“STEPHEN STRANGE IS ACTING WEIRD TODAY, CARE TO ELABORATE?”** She texted. The reply came a few seconds later.

**“I don't know what's happening. Please, explain”** Wong texted back.

**“This guy named Peter appeared, looking for him. He's Loki's nephew, apparently. And I told him about it and he took me to the Hayden Planetarium, and one hour ago he left to do groceries, I mean, he never does that? And now he just left the bags and left the apartment again and told me to lock the front door before I went to bed?”** she texted.

**“Well, I kinda know something about it”** she frowned.

**“WONG WHAT??? Spill it, honey”** She could almost see him frowning.

**“The Ancient Numen, page 564”** She got up as fast as she could and went to her room. She grabbed the said book and opened it.

**“YOU'RE KIDDING???? Does he know that? Do you actually think this is happening??”**

**“The weekend you guys met he told me he went outside and this man saw him, right? And I knew then that it was probably because of this spell, and then a few days later he told me he knew the said man's name because he was one of Loki's closest friends. You can't tell him about the spell, or it won't work. If Tony is who we think he is, then everything needs to happen before he even suspects it is happening. You can’t tell him, both of them, they can’t suspect it.”**

**“Are you going to be okay on your own?”**

**“Yeah, don’t worry!”**

Wanda stared at the book and read the spell seven times, with a smile on her face.

Tony took his phone from his pocket and opened his messages.

**“I'm kinda doing something, you and MJ should get something to eat. Don't wait for me. Don't go to bed too late and close the damn door this time.” “Love you”**

**“Hmmmm** **Mr. Stark is finally getting some tonight, hm?”**

**“I TOLD YOU IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS PETER BENJAMIN STARK PARKER”** The boy’s eyes widened.

**“I'm just kidding”**

**“it's weird so just… don't?”**

**“It's okay, dad. We're gonna eat some pizza. Have fun!” “I love you too”** then he opens Bruce's chat.

**“hm, cute guy helping me with the kid's car and I'm buying him a drink? Sounds like a nice Friday night”**

**“I can't believe you”** Tony smiled.

**“His fucking blue eyes, I swear if the whole world went dark I'd still find him with those eyes”**

**“Just don't break this guy's heart, okay?”** Tony smiled.

**“He can break mine, and I'd thank him for that”**

**“hm, you're definitely the weirdest guy I know. And I'm married to Thor!”** Tony smiled.

**“Gotta go!”** Tony put his phone away when he saw Stephen leaving the building.

“Okay, do you know where we're going?” the taller man asked. Tony nodded. Stephen started to feel anxious. For the first time since Wong put the spell on him, he was putting his guard down, and people were going to see him. He didn't understand why Tony didn't seem to care about his face, he didn't understand why he didn't react like he was supposed to react, like people usually did. His hands are sweaty, they're shaking more than normal and his heart is beating fast. Tony also doesn't seem to remember that he was the one he saw wearing underwear, so many months before. But then, Stephen left so fast that he assumed the man didn't actually see his face.

“Are you okay?” Tony is looking at him, but Stephen is miles away. He takes a deep breath.

“Yes, I am, I’m sorry, I just… I’m not really good with people, and if the place we’re going is crowded, I’m just freaking out internally” Tony is smiling at him, not for fun, but because the man is… Tony doesn’t know how to explain, but the man is cute?

“Okay, we can go there and if you start to feel uncomfortable I have somewhere else we can go” Stephen nods.

“Thank you” Tony smirks.

Stephen is right, the place is crowded, and he tries to act normal, but every single person there, including the bartender, are looking at them. It’s so silent now that he can hear the man behind the bar putting the glasses on the counter.

“Wow, that’s a nice reception!” Tony says, and despite all the feelings running through his veins and the fact that Tony can’t see what they’re all seeing, Stephen chuckles, and he feels just a little bit less tense. Tony doesn’t know what to do. He thinks about putting his hand on Stephen’s back, to see if it helps, but he doesn’t wanna make things worse. Slowly people are turning back to their conversations, and some of them stop staring, and he doesn’t understand why it happened, in the first place. The face Tony sees, when he looks at Stephen is who he used to be, before the accident, so Tony doesn’t know people are staring at them for the same reason why Stephen doesn’t have mirrors in his apartment.

Stephen closes his eyes, for a second and follows Tony to the bar. They sit, turning the stools to face each other.

“hi” Stephen smiled.

“Hey” Tony smirked and looked at the bartender.

“Single malt, neat” He asked, and then he looked at Stephen.

“Same” Tony is looking at the bartender again.

“Make it double for him, he looks a little bit tense” Stephen faked a smile.

“You can’t really see it, can you?” Tony frowned, looking at him.

“What are you talking about?” Stephen gulps.

“The reason people are still staring?” Tony is shaking his head. The man in front of him is not making any sense.

“I think we’re probably too much for them to handle” Stephen pressed his lips together, he’s trying not to smile. “Come on, don’t hide that.”

“Are you always like this?” The bartender put the glasses in front of them.

“Thank you,” Tony said. Stephen couldn’t look at him, so he just looked down. “Well, I’m not always like this, just with neurosurgeons that understand about cars” Stephen chuckled.

“I don’t actually understand about cars, I read one book about it, that’s all. I kinda understand about I-eights, but that’s all I can do” Tony stopped the glass against his lips.

“You understand about I-eights? That’s two books, then” Stephen smiled.

“I had one” Tony almost choked.

“Damn, you're really full of surprises” Stephen smiled.

“You have no idea,” Tony smirked. Was that a bad thing he wanted to keep listening?

“Apparently not. Hey, you, give me some of those, please” he pointed to the bag of chips behind the bar. “but we have all night. Do you wanna get out of here?” Stephen nodded. Tony could still feel people staring at them. “Let’s go”

He put forty bucks on the counter.

“Keep the change, hm?” He grabbed the bag of chips and left, behind Stephen. The two men walked back to Tony’s building.

“Come on, I have a nice view, and it’s about to get better.” He said. Stephen smirked. He went upstairs with the man, and Tony opened the door to the rooftop.

“What do you think?” Stephen smiled. It was a pretty view.

"Breathtaking,” He said and looked at Tony. They locked their eyes for a second, and then Stephen turned to face the edge of the building, to the lights from the neighborhood. Tony is a little disappointed, because something about Stephen’s face makes him want to keep looking, and something about Stephen’s hands makes Tony want to hold it, and something about his deep voice makes Tony want to keep listening. He doesn’t understand what it is. 

  
  


Around five am Stephen finally touched his phone, to make sure Wanda didn’t call or text him, when he finally saw what time it was. They were lying down on the two sunbeds on the rooftop.

“Fuck!” Tony looked at him. “I gotta go, I left Wanda alone” Tony nodded. “Thank you for tonight!” Tony smiled and bit his lips.

“Thank you, I had a great time. Can we do this again?” Stephen looked at him, thinking for a moment and nodded.

“I’d love to,” Tony smiled. “Bye, Tony”

“Yeah, goodnight!” Stephen smiled briefly, and Tony watched him leave.

Stephen woke up after nine that Saturday. The first thing he did was check his phone.

**“Hello, dear Stephen, thank you again for last night!”** He smiled.

**“Hello, Mr. Tony Stark, thank you for the drinks and the pretty view!”** He got in the kitchen and saw Wanda eating cereal. The girl hides her smile by putting the spoon in her mouth.

“So, you still owe me some explanation. Good morning, by the way, you look happy” Stephen smiled, grabbing a bowl and filling it with cereal.

“Okay, you will probably understand what’s happening better than I do, so I think I should just tell you. There’s a guy, and he can see me, even with the spell?” He said.

“Okay, that’s not supposed to happen. I actually read the Nova Magi, I know how it works, the person can only see you if you allow them to, otherwise, they can’t listen or see you at all” Stephen nodded.

“Yes, but he can, and it’s not the first time, and I feel like there’s more, because he doesn’t care about how I look” Wanda frowned.

“I don’t care about how you look”

“Yes, but, like, we went to a bar last night” he heard her  _ “hmmm”  _ but ignored it. “Anyway, we went there, and I couldn’t allow only him to see me, so I let everyone see me, and they kept staring, and I don’t know, he made a joke about us being too much together, but he seemed so… Clueless? He can’t see me, at least not my real face” Wanda pressed her lips together.

“Well, maybe he actually doesn’t care about it, I don’t know, maybe he can see something else in you” Stephen looked at her.

“What do you mean?” Wanda shrugged.

“Not everyone actually cares about the way you look, Steph, they’re probably curious, but people have history, people have, you know, their lives.” He didn’t say anything. “And that Peter boy, from yesterday morning?”

“He’s his son” Wanda’s eyes widened.

“Oh, that explains a lot. So, you think if his father can see you, then Peter might, too?”

“I don’t know what I think. Can you try to find something about it?”

“I can’t promise you anything, I mean, if there’s nothing about it on the Nova Magi, then I don’t think it’s a problem with the spell, specifically” Stephen smiled.

“Look at her, all smart about her spells” He said, proud.

“Well, I’m trying to learn as much as possible before school starts, so…” Stephen’s phone buzzed, and he looked at it.

**“Tony Stark sent you a message”** He looked at her.

“Well, if you like him, and if you don’t mind if he can see you or not, maybe you should see him again,” She said, getting up and putting her bowl in the washing machine. “Just think about that, I think you deserve someone” He smiled, and the girl left the room.

**“You shouldn’t have told me about Amarath, I KNOW TOO MUCH NOW, AND HE JUST ASKED ME IF I KNEW SOMETHING ABOUT IT, AND I TRIED NOT TO SMILE, BUT DAMN, I'M SO HAPPY FOR HIM”** She texted Wong.

**“DON’T TELL HIM!”** She smiled.

**“I didn’t, don’t worry, but I can’t stop smiling”** She went back to her room, to read.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HI  
> EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING I'M-

Stephen looked at his phone and read the text.

**“Maybe we should do it again tomorrow? Around lunch, so the kids won’t stay alone at night?”** Stephen smiled.

**“Sure, Wanda is probably not gonna be here tomorrow. My librarian friend takes her for tutoring classes every Sunday, so… My place? For lunch? I can cook us something”** Stephen bit his lips. Was it too much? He didn’t even talk to Loki about spending time with Tony, he didn’t even talk to Loki about spending time with anyone, and he felt like he owed him something, despite the fact that they didn’t have anything.

**“White, or red?”** Stephen looked at his cabinet. What was he going to cook? He smiled.

**“Syrah”** In his apartment, Tony smiled. Peter and MJ were having breakfast in the kitchen, watching the man text someone. They looked at each other.

**“Damn, he understands about wine, too” “You’re gonna be the death of me!”**

Stephen smiled.

**“Are you flirting with me, Mr. Stark?”**

**“Is it working, doc?”** Stephen blushed.

**“You’ll probably have to wait and see”** The doctor smirked. He went to Wanda’s room, knocking on her door.

“Are you going to the Sanctum, tomorrow?” She nodded.

“You have a date!” She said and smiled, happy. “Wow, okay, I absolutely will go to the Sanctum tomorrow, Wong wants to teach me about the weapons, anyway, so you text me when, you know, he leaves” Stephen shook his head and nodded.

“Absolutely. Can you do me a favor, later?”

“Groceries, sure. Of course” He chuckled.

“You’re the best!”

“I know, I’m amazing!” Stephen shook his head.

Stephen went to the living room again, excited by the idea of having a date, and he started to freak out about the apartment because he thought it could be cleaner.

“Just calm down, he’s a nice person, you’re going to be fine” he whispered.

**“Can I call you?”** Loki answered by calling him.

‘“Hello, mister” He heard the voice say. “How is it going?”

“I’m good. I’m… Hm, actually I need to talk to you? Is it a bad time?”

“the whole week was a bad time, but never for you. I actually have to tell you something too, but you first.”

“Shit, okay, what are we?” Loki frowned. He touched his employee's arm and made a sign for him that he was going outside. Loki left through the back door.

“Hm, I don't know, we're friends? Why? Do you see me as your friend?” Stephen frowned.

“Sure, you are my friend, but do you have feelings for me?” Loki laughed, nervous. What kind of question was that?

“I don't know. Where's all that coming from?” Stephen took a deep breath.

“I met… Hm, I met Tony Stark last night. It was an accident, I helped him with a car problem and…” Loki interrupted him.

“ _ You  _ helped Tony with a car problem? Damn, he is losing his touch” Stephen shook his head.

“Loki? I wanted to talk to you, because I wanna make sure you're okay with that” Loki looked at the alley, finally understanding where that talk was leading him to.

“You want my permission to, what? Sleep with him? Kiss him?” Stephen frowned.

“No, I wanna make sure you're okay with that, because if by a slight chance you're not, then I'm okay with that, and I'll understand and…” Loki interrupted him again.

“Stephen? It's okay, you're not gonna hurt me, if you like Tony that's fine, I'm cool, I thought about having something with you, sure, and I'm sure you thought about it too, or you wouldn't have called me to make sure I'm okay, if you like him I'm not gonna get hurt, if I thought about something between us it was probably because we're too good together, you know, and my mind ended up going there.”

“Are you sure? Because, you know, I don't mind, we just met, and I'm cool if you…” Loki rolled his eyes. He was kinda hurt, he couldn't deny that he felt just a little bit jealous because Stephen was a great guy and the idea of Stephen with anyone, like at all, was weird.

He feels like Stephen is too good for this world, but then he was talking about Tony, of all people, Tony. He knew Tony changed since he adopted Peter, and he felt like if anyone was going to have Stephen, then he was glad it was someone he loved.

“Strange, shut up. I’m gonna be honest with you, okay?”

“Okay,” Loki smiled.

“You’re amazing, and I’ll always feel like I’m not good enough, like no one is good enough for you, but then I always felt like no one was good enough for Tony, and I think you guys, if something else happens, you two are amazing, and I’ll be thrilled to be your best man, since he’s probably gonna promote Bruce to best man.” Stephen laughed. “You go there, and you enjoy every single moment with him, because he’s the kindest, selfless, prettiest person I know, okay?” Stephen took a deep breath.

“Okay.”

“Well, now that everything is kinda settled I need to tell you something as well. I’ve been seeing someone, I think. His name is En, he's a client. It kinda happened, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, you were so sweet asking me if something could happen between you and Tony, and I didn't say anything, I feel like an asshole” Stephen smiled. “It's just… We barely talked after that, the coffee shop is just insane this week, we're trying some cold drinks, and it's so fucking busy lately, and I'm so exhausted, I took one night off with him and that was all, I'm sorry.” Stephen smiled again.

“It's okay, don't worry, I'm happy for you, I really am, and I don't care you didn't tell me, I wanted to make sure you're okay with me and Tony because, I don't know, we never actually talked about feelings and he's your friend, you know? Like damn, that would be a mess if you weren't cool with it and I didn't tell you anything, so I just wanted to make sure” Loki smiled, kicking a rock away.

“I'm okay, Steph. We're okay. Are you gonna tell him you're… My Stephen?”

“Obviously. I wanna make sure he's okay with that too”

“Okay, I gotta go. I text you once I get a fucking break. Bye, love” Stephen smiled.

“Bye, Loki”

The next morning Wanda left around 8, carrying the books Wong gave her back to the Sanctum.

“Have fun!” Stephen smiled.

“You too, careful with those weapons, or I'll punch Wong” She chuckled, putting an apple in her backpack.

“Bye, Steph!” she left. And now Stephen was alone with his anxiety. He barely slept, he had everything he needed to cook, the apartment was so clean that they could eat from the floor, and he already had chosen his outfit.

He realizes he hadn’t had a proper date in five years. Not since… And there’s also a bit of fear there. What if it is only temporary? What if Tony arrives to see him as he really is? What if he ruins it? He hasn’t talked to anyone since forever. He has three people in his life, only, and he hasn’t done anything interesting in over two years. What would they talk about? What would he say? All the experiences he had had were from books then, what if the conversation ends? What if he has nothing else to say? What then? 

Around twelve thirty Tony arrived. Stephen had texted him the exact address. The man knocked. Stephen was still cooking when he left the kitchen to open the door.

“Hey” Tony smiled.

“Hello!” They looked at each other, unsure of what to do, Stephen let him in.

“This is for you” Tony gave him a bottle of a 2006 Syrah.

“You didn't just buy the most expensive bottle of Syrah you could, did you?” Tony smirked.

“You know me too well, already!” Stephen shook his head, perplexed. Oh, he was totally gonna enjoy that bottle of wine, he was sure of it.

“It smells good” Stephen smiled, putting the bottle in the wine fridge he had under the counter, the only thing he didn't sell from the penthouse.

“Well, of course, I'm cooking” Tony laughed. Stephen took a wine glass from the cabinet and poured to Tony, from the bottle he had opened when he started cooking.

“Are you trying to get me drunk?” Stephen smiled.

“just a little bit,” Tony smiled. He sat on the kitchen stool, on the living room side of the counter.

“So” Stephen looked at him, his hands a little bit shaky, as usual. “We need to talk”

“Already? We haven’t even kissed, yet” Tony joked. He saw Stephen blush.

“I'm Stephen” the smaller one chuckled.

“I know that. I'm Tony, in case you forgot” Stephen smiled, embarrassed.

“No, hm, how can I say this? I'm… Loki's Stephen. The guy he's been texting for over a year” Tony started laughing, and then he looked at the man and realized it was real.

“Fuck, you're not kidding?” Stephen sighed.

“Hm, no.” The silence was awkward, now. Wow, okay.

“Hm, okay, so what am I doing here? I shouldn't be here, like not at all, shit, okay, nothing happened, he's not gonna…” Stephen's eyes widened. Fuck, Tony was panicking and this was totally not what he wanted to be happening. He saw the man get up.

“Tony, stop, and listen to me” The smaller barely listened to him. Stephen got closer, holding his arm. “Loki couldn't care less about this.” Tony's face lit up.

“Oh, really? He was like one hundred percent into you, I mean…” Stephen smiled. “I can see why” the man whispered the last part.

“I called him yesterday. He said he doesn't care, and you know, all the cliché stuff about why we should… drink wine and eat together and, I don't know, you know?” Tony smiled, he took a deep breath.

“Hm, so we can… Drink and eat and talk and do other things? He's fine?” Stephen smiled.

“He's actually seeing a guy. En, Em… I don't know” The man chuckled. “Are we okay?” Tony nodded. “Good, I need to go back to my mushrooms now” Tony smiled and nodded again, he sat in front of the counter, looking Stephen cook, his back to him.

He watched, as Stephen glanced between the stove, the counter and his glass of wine.

“Fuck” he whispered. Tony got up, getting closer.

“Can I?” Stephen nodded, looking defeated. He had got some of his hand’s functions back after one year of physical therapy, but cutting small things was still a problem. Tony took the knife from his hand and his waist touched Stephen's body. “Give me some space,” he said, bumping their waists against each other, trying to make Stephen move. The man did it, he kept the right hand on the counter and watched. “Like this?” Tony saw the man nod. Tony cut all the mushrooms and put the knife away. “There you go, you don't have to do everything, you know?” He smirked.

“Okay, so what's next?” he asked and tried to reach the oven, but Stephen was still there. “come on, let's do this together,” the doctor thought about it for a second.

“You put the mushrooms in that pan” Tony did what he said. “Now we wait. Give it five minutes, then we can eat” Tony raised his eyebrows.

“That's all? Oh, I really wanted to cook” Stephen smiled, the smaller looking so disappointed.

“We can see each other again, and we can cook together, this time” Tony looked at him. “If you want” the man nodded.

“I’d like that, yes. My place, this time” Stephen nodded. The taller man grabbed the glass of wine. “Can I ask you a question?” He nodded, still drinking his wine, keeping his eyes on Tony.

“You knew who I was, didn’t you?” Stephen smirked.

“Yes, Loki texted me a picture of you two in Rhode Island, and I have a good memory,” Tony smirked.

“Are you sure you didn’t stare at it for too long, and now you can’t forget my face?” Stephen smiled.

In his mind the answer was something like:  _ ‘actually, my librarian friend is actually a sorcerer and he put a spell on me, and you’re the only person that apparently is not affected by it, and I have absolutely no idea why, so I just can’t forget your face’  _ , but the answer he gave Tony was:

“I’m sure. I didn’t stare at you for hours, but it’s kinda hard for me to forget a pretty face” Tony smirked. He drank the wine, without breaking eye contact.

“So, you’re actually adopting the girl you found?” Stephen nodded.

“We like to think we found each other. Yes, I am, her parents gave me her guardianship, already, and now I’m waiting for the adoption process.” Tony nodded.

“I'm glad it's working out for you, I thought, when Loki told me, that you were kinda weird, putting a teenager inside your house like that” Stephen nodded.

“I just couldn’t leave her there, you know? And we’re great, she’s awesome, she’s probably the smartest kid I know, she goes to that school near Píer 25?” Tony smiled.

“Yeah, Peter goes there” Stephen raised his eyebrows.

“We’re raising geniuses,” The doctor said. Tony shrugged.

“With fathers like us, they better be!” Stephen smiled.

“Humble, Mr. I graduated from MIT at twenty-one” They looked at each other, both smirking, holding their glasses.

Peter woke up around twelve, looking for Tony around the apartment, but Tony had already left.

**“Hm, my dad’s not here???”** He sat on the couch and turned the tv on.

**“DO YOU THINK HE’S WITH WHOEVER HE WAS, FRIDAY NIGHT?”** MJ asked.  **“OH MY GOD PETER YOUR DAD IS DATING SOMEONE?”**

**“FUCKING FINALLY?”** Ned texted.  **“The man has been for like 10 years, and Loki always said he was a manwhore before he adopted Peter?”** Peter rolled his eyes.

**“Do you guys wanna come over? We can order something to eat!!!!!”**

**“Sure!!! Ned, I’ll be there in 30”**

Peter texted Tony.

**“Where are you? MJ and Ned are coming over, we’re gonna order food and play something”**

**“I’m out, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I didn’t wanna wake you up”** Peter rolled his eyes.

**“Hm, okay? I guess… Are you with the guy you were texting yesterday?”**

**“I already told you, and I’m not saying again: none of your…”**

**“Business”** Tony smiled.

**“See? You’re learning”** Peter waited for MJ and Ned to arrive and they ordered some food. They sat on the couch

“So, he is dating someone!” Peter faked a smile.

“My dad is dating, someone has a crush on you, and I’m here!” Peter said. He looked at Ned. “Do you wanna be my fake boyfriend? So I won’t feel so left out?” MJ laughed. She and Ned exchanged a look.

“Wait, someone has a crush on you?” Ned asked, looking at her. Peter smiled.

“Obviously. Stephen Strange’s daughter, or whoever that girl was, you should have seen the way she looked at MJ!” Ned is looking at her, his mouth open.

“Okay, so your idol’s daughter or something has a crush on you? You go, girl!” he said. MJ shook her head.

“She doesn’t have a crush on me, she just called me pretty, and I honestly think she was being sarcastic,” MJ said.

“Yes, but you thought about it, didn’t you?” The girl rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t Peter, because even if she has a crush on me what am I supposed to do? We knocked on her door like two stalkers, she pretty much hates us”

“Yeah, she probably hates me, but she definitely looked at you! And you definitely thought about that, see? Damn, we’re gonna be the only singles around here!” Peter said the last part looking at Ned.

“You’re.gonna.be.the.only.one.single.because.Ned.went.on.a.date.with.Danny.friday.night” MJ said, way too fast.

“Wait, what?” Peter looks disappointed.

“MICHELLE!” She faked a smile at him, and Peter and Ned are staring at each other now.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Ned said. “I was going to, but… I don’t know, man, I think I freaked out! It was not that big of a deal, anyway, he texted me and we went for a walk, and we found this comic store and we kinda kissed, but that was all”

Peter only nodded.

“Okay, that's fine, hm, I'll wait for the food downstairs” He faked a smile and got up, putting the card in his pocket.

“Oh, shit,” MJ said, realizing what she did. She ran to the door before Peter could open it. “I'm sorry, Petey, I completely forgot, I'm so sorry” he shrugged, leaving the apartment without saying a word.

“What just happened?” Ned had a confused face, looking at MJ, trying to understand.

“We just broke his heart,” she said. The girl didn't know if she should tell him, or if she should just leave Ned there and go after Peter.

“What do you mean we broke his heart? He likes Danny? They barely speak!” MJ looked at him.

“It's not Danny” Ned's face lit up.

“Oh, OH!” she nodded. “Oh, wow” she nodded. They waited for him in the living room, so when Peter got in, carrying four bags of food, Ned followed him alone to the kitchen.

“I'm sorry, Pete, I am, I didn't know” Peter nodded. He opened the cabinet, grabbing three plates. “You never told me”

He finally looked at Ned, putting the plates on the counter in front of him.

“Yeah? What was I supposed to say, if I didn't know how you would react? What was I supposed to say, when we were sharing my bed, doing everything we could together? Forget about it, Ned, I'm gonna be fine, just give me some time, okay?” Ned didn't say anything. Peter took a deep breath. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude, I…”

“Hey, it's okay, I'm sorry we never talked about this, and I'm sorry I didn't talk to you about Danny. I didn't know what was going on” Peter nodded. “If you want I can…”

“Don't worry, I can handle it, seriously, let's just… move on, please?” Ned nodded.

Tony and Stephen were on the couch, holding their glasses, drinking what was left of the Syrah, and Stephen thought about finishing a third bottle after that one, and suddenly they were kissing. Stephen got up, still kissing him, putting himself between Tony's legs, and the man raised his hands, to touch his face. Stephen never reacted that quickly in his life. He held Tony's wrist, squeezing them with his hands against the back of the couch. Harder. Harder. Harder. He only realized how much pressure he was putting in the act when he felt Tony's wrist bones against his hand. He got up fast, moving away from the couch.

“I'm so sorry, I'm... God, I'm sorry” Stephen's hands were shaking, he's out of breath, his head is spinning, and he's angry. He can't believe he just physically hurt the man in front of him. He left the living room, not giving Tony an opportunity to speak. The man got up, going after him.

Stephen is in the middle of his bedroom, still shaking, still upset. Tony touched his waist, gently.

“Hey, it's okay, you didn't hurt me. Stephen?” The taller man is staring at the floor, embarrassed. The idea of Tony touching his face and feeling his skin was terrible for him, so he tried to avoid that, and he knew Tony was lying. He looked at him, then he gently touched his left arm, taking Tony's hand with his. The marks of Stephen's fingers there, and probably were going to be for a while.

“It's nothing, it's okay, I'm okay” Tony assured him.

“I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened, I just… I'm sorry” The man nodded.

“You just reacted, that's okay, it happens, I'm not mad, I swear I don't care, okay? Now come on.” Tony took him by the hand to the living room again. They sat next to each other and Tony pressed their lips together only for a moment. Tony put his knee on the couch, to get more comfortable, and he put his hand on Stephen’s thighs, kissing the doctor again. Stephen touched Tony’s face. He got up, putting both legs around Stephen’s body and sitting on his lap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND THEY KISSED \O/ \O/  
> LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!  
> SEE Y'ALL ON WEDNESDAY? OK BYE!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH HELLO!!  
> I'm back!!!!!!!!  
> I guess I'm breaking some hearts in the future, sorry heheh

**“I'm taking Tony home, do you want me to go get you?”** Stephen texted.

**“Taking your boyfriend home hmm!!”** he rolled her eyes, watching the girl text another message.  **“Sure. We're just reading.”**

It was already dark when they went outside. Tony looked at him.

“So, if Wanda is all smart, what's your friend doing tutoring her?”

“Oh, it's not for school, it's like some historical research, or something. It's more like a hobby than tutoring” Tony raised his eyebrows.

“That sounds interesting,” Stephen nodded.

“She looks pretty excited about that, she's reading all these books and trying to learn certain languages to read more about it, it's nice to see her like that.” Tony is smiling. He can hear the fascination in Stephen's voice.

“Can I ask you something?” Stephen nodded. “Is there anything you can't do?” the man smiled.

“I don't know. I can't read Latin, but apparently, she can” Tony smiled again. He stopped in front of Stephen and on his tiptoe he kissed him.

“What's that for?” Tony shrugged.

“I don't know, just felt like it.” Stephen smiled. He put one hand around Tony's waist and the other one in the back of his head and kissed him again.

Stephen left Tony in front of his apartment and kissed him goodbye. He didn't hide himself, he just walked around 6th street. On Bleecker Street he texted Wanda.

**“I'm outside”** and less than one minute later the girl was leaving the sanctum with two books.

“Hey, did you have fun? Are you hurt? Should I punch Wong?” the girl smiled, looking at him.

“I'm fine, Steph. We had a few training sessions and he showed me a lot of cool stuff, but I'm okay” Stephen smiled. “How was your date?”

Stephen smirked.

“I can tell you about it, at home” She nodded.

“Steph? What's happening with Wong?” the doctor frowned, looking at her. “I mean, he used to visit us a lot, but this last couple of weeks he seems so far away” 

“Did he say something?” she shook her head, denying. “I don't know, he told me he was busy, and that's all. I was actually impressed when he said you were going to the sanctum today”

“He looks fine, I just miss having him around, and school is starting next week, so I don't know”

“Maybe we should plan a themed dinner? And invite him?” she nodded. “Okay”

“Are you gonna invite your boyfriend?” Stephen smiled.

“Maybe not this time. Let's spend some time together, the three of us?” she nodded.

They went back to the apartment and Wanda went to the kitchen, making them some popcorn. When she sat next to him on the couch Stephen was watching Benjamin Button.

“Oh, we're not watching that movie again. You've already watched it three times in the last twenty days, we're not watching it a fourth time. Don't get me wrong, this movie is awesome, but I think we need to watch something lighter.” she said, grabbing the remote control.

“I think we should watch Mamma Mia, then” he said. The girl smiled.

“Hell, yeah! So, how was your date?” Stephen took a deep breath.

“I did something, now I can’t stop thinking about it” She looks at him, waiting for Stephen to continue. “He tried to touch my face”

“Oh,” Stephen nodded, without looking at her.

“Yes, we were kissing and I reacted because I didn’t know what he’d feel, you know? This or what he sees, and I grabbed his wrists, and I didn’t realize I was doing that, I overpowered him in a way and he didn’t even react, why would he do that? Fuck” Wanda was watching him, the man looked angry, probably ashamed.

“Did you apologize?” He nodded. “If he accepted then that’s fine, you can’t keep beating yourself up because of it, it was an accident, and now that happened you can use that to be more careful.” Stephen nodded.

“I know, but I feel like shit”

“I know life was terrible to you, I understand, but really, we’re here for you, we like you for who you are, no matter what, you’re such an amazing person, but you let things that already happened weight on you and it only makes you feel bad, you can’t do this, if he accepted your apology, if he said it was okay then it is, and if it’s gonna make you feel better text him and apologize again, but just move on and enjoy him, you know? It’s the first time I see you so happy, just apologize and move on” Stephen nodded.

“I am happy with you.” Wanda smiled.

“I know, I’m happy with you, but you have the chance to be happier, just do it. You’re kind, and you deserve to be happy” Stephen smiled. He never believed he deserved something good, before the accident he was rude, he was arrogant, and he deserved everything that happened to him.

“You’re wrong, though. I do deserve everything that happened” Wanda shook her head, looking at him, her heart broken. It wasn’t possible that the man in front of her truly believed that.

“No, you don't. You can't see it, for some reason, but you helped me when everyone I knew turned their backs on me, you saved me, I know we like to think we found each other, but  _ you  _ saved me, you did it, and I don't care  _ how _ , I just care that you are amazing, you're smart and you can't see your worth, maybe because of your past, I don't know, but I just wish you could see, you know? You're so much more than your face, or your hands, Steph. You were so happy tonight that you didn’t even hide yourself, and that’s the life you should be living, not here, alone. Now text him so we can watch the damn movie” he smiled, grabbing his phone.

**“Hey, I'm sorry again about what I did”** He waited for Tony to answer.

**“Don't worry about that. So, am I seeing you on Friday?”** Stephen nodded.

**“I don't know. Are you?”** he smiled.

**“Yes, Friday around 8? Is it a good time for you? At my place”** Stephen looked at Wanda. She smiled.

“Just say yes, I can sort something out” He kept staring at her. “Just do it, come on!”

**“Okay, I see you there”** Wanda smiled, playing the movie.

Tony looked at the kids. They glanced at each other when they saw the smile on his face.

“Hm, son, is that okay if you sleep at Ned's next Friday?” Peter opened his mouth, uncomfortable. He knew he said he wanted things to be normal, but he felt uncomfortable. Sleeping alone with Ned was going to be a challenge for the first time.

MJ smiled. “Actually, both of them are coming to my house Friday. It's Mexican night.” Tony nodded.

“MJ, you don’t have to…” The girl rolled her eyes.

“Shut up, Parker.” she forced a smile to Tony.

“Anything special happening on Friday?” Tony smirked.

“Just boy's night, you know? Nothing special.”

When Ned and MJ left, Tony and Peter sat on the sofa to watch something.

“You okay, kid?” Peter looked at him. Tony could feel his son miles away.

“Yeah, I think,” Peter thought for a second. “Dad?”

Tony looked at him, worried, there was something about Peter's voice.

“Yes” took a while for Peter to answer. He kept staring at the floor, thinking if he should talk about it with Tony or not.

“Hm, nothing, I think I'm tired, can I skip Pawn Stars tonight?” Tony smiled, gently.

“Of course. If they buy something good I tell you tomorrow” Peter nodded, grabbing his phone and getting up. Tony watched the boy walk away. “Hey, Petey?” Peter looked at him. “I love you” the boy smiled.

“I love you too, dad” Tony grabbed his phone.

**“Hm, since you’re the closest person to me with a kid, can I ask you something?”** Stephen answered in a few seconds.

**“Sure”**

**“Does Wanda talk to you about stuff?”**

**‘All the time, but I think it’s because we’re still knowing each other, you know? Is everything okay?”** Tony took a deep breath.

**“I got home and he seemed a little off, and he almost told me something, but then he just went to his bedroom. I don’t know. Usually, I just let it be, but I never saw him like that”**

**“He’s a teenager, Tony, there’s a lot happening, they’re just learning about things, just give him some time and make sure he knows he can trust you, and he’ll tell you about it”** Tony smiled.

**“Do you think I should tell him I’m spending time with you?”** In his apartment, Stephen smiled. Wanda was trying not to smile because she could see Stephen smiling and texting.

**“Well, spending time is a nice way to put it” “If you think it’ll help, yes”**

**“You know what I mean ;)’ “Does Wanda know about it?”**

**“I do know” “Yes, since yesterday, yes, she is a smart kid, Peter is too, so he probably already knows, just tell him yourself, if you think that’s the right thing to do”**

**“Yeah, damn, are you always right as well?”** Stephen smiled.

Tony got up, going to Peter’s room and knocking before opening the door. The boy was already in bed, his eyes closed. He heard when Tony asked if he was still awake, but he didn’t answer. He just wanted to be alone for a while, because he was about to cry.

“Okay, son, goodnight, I love you” Tony whispered. He closed the door behind him, going back to the living room.

Tony and Bruce helped Loki open the coffee shop that Monday morning. The younger Odinson had to organize his stock before opening, around seven, and the two of them offered to help. Tony was just looking for an excuse to talk to them about Stephen, so he just said yes.

“You should have employees to do that,” Bruce said, putting the box inside the storage room.

“Yeah, they're just too tired, we all are, so I just told them they should be here when we open.”

“Tell me again why you're doing this?” Tony asked, already exhausted. Loki smiled.

“It's called business, you should know about that” Tony smirked. Bruce sighed.

“Do you need an extra pair of hands? I need to do something, occupy my mind” Loki looked at him.

“Is everything okay?” Bruce pressed his lips together.

“Thor is killing me, he's busy with that City Hall trial and we haven’t had sex in three weeks, I’m too frustrated. I already have twenty days of classes planned, do you guys have any idea what that means? I need something” Loki rolled his eyes.

“Shouldn’t be listening to this, honestly, gross” Tony smirked.

“Marry a lawyer, they said. It will be fun, they said. Yeah, when he’s not too busy to fuck” Tony laughed.

“I’m sorry, can you stop talking about fucking my brother? God, just… You can work here, just never talk about it again, okay?” Bruce shrugged.

“Oh, yeah, talking about fucking, how was your date yesterday?” Tony looked at him, shaking his head.

“WAIT,” Loki said. “You had a date yesterday? With Stephen?” Tony nodded.

“I went to his place, he cooked us lunch and God!” Tony took a deep breath. “I’m gonna be honest with you, please don’t get hurt, I don’t know what you were thinking giving him away like that, the man is just…” Tony stopped for a second. “He’s amazing? He’s a great cook and he understands about pretty much everything? From I-Eights to fine wine, like, I’m just glad you did”

“So, how  _ was  _ your date?” Bruce asked.

“God, I think I’ll text Thor and talk to him about the no-sex thing, you're impossible” Bruce ignored him. “Nothing actually happened, but he certainly knows where to put his hands,” Tony said. “Oh, yes!” Tony said, remembering. “Who’s Em?” Loki shook his head.

“He told you?”

“He had to, I didn’t know you were okay with that, I almost left his place running”

“His name is En, he’s a client, Bruce will probably see him, he’s nice. I don’t know, I actually haven't had time to properly talk to him since Thursday.” Tony and Bruce looked at each other.

“And what the hell are you doing wasting your time talking to _us_?” Tony asked. “Give me that box. I'm flattered, truly, but you're not my doctor, so don't waste your time with me”

Bruce smiled.

“I swear the Odinsons are too slow! I could have married Thor when we were still in college, but he wasn't sure if I liked him, honestly, what's up with you people?” he looked at Loki.

“Wait,  _ your doctor?  _ ” Loki gave him the box, and Tony took it to the storage room.

“Well, not mine,  _ mine,”  _ He said. “At least not yet _ ,  _ I'm not making the same mistake you made” Loki frowned.

“Wait, you're talking about Stephen?” Tony looked at him.

“Of course I am talking about Stephen, who else?” Loki is confused.  _ Doctor? _

_ “  _ Stephen is a writer.” Tony smiled.

“Oh, but he's not. Not with those hands” Bruce is listening, trying not to maintain visual contact with them, his eyes wide open.

“His hands?” Loki was lost. It was the part about Stephen that he didn’t tell Loki, but Tony knew. Stephen thought that if Tony couldn’t see the ugliest part of him then that was okay for him to tell Tony the other part. The broken one. His hands, the life he had lost.

“You truly don't know shit about the accident, do you?” Loki is staring at him, perplexed. Accident?

“I think that's a ‘no’” Tony said.

“Jesus, it's getting worse!” Bruce whispered. He kept watching Tony and Loki look at each other, the younger one clueless.

“We're not talking about the same Stephen,” Loki said.

“Oh, but we are. The Stephen I had a date with last night, the neurosurgeon with countless awards and accounts for him on Twitter”

“Wait, what?” Suddenly Tony is not trying to prove that he is right, he's worried.

“You really don't know” Loki shakes his head, denying it. He's lost, and Tony has this bad feeling on the back of his neck. “Stephen got into an accident, a couple of years ago.”

“And there's something wrong with his hands, now?” Tony nodded. “Why would he lie to me?”

“I don't know, but please, I'm gonna ask him, just let me do this.” Loki nodded. Tony  _ was  _ worried. He was anxious. Stephen lied to Loki, but why? He didn't want to, but it made him think about what Stephen was lying  _ to him  _ about.

“Damn, is he really a surgeon?” Tony nodded.

“I Googled him, he was this huge neurosurgeon at Presbyterian for years, he was everywhere, they basically worshiped him, and then everything suddenly stopped, and he told me there was an accident, so I think that's the reason why he stopped.” Loki's eyes widened. There was so much about Stephen he didn’t actually know, and he just wanted to know why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO... I HAVE 15 DAYS TO LEARN ONE-MONTH WORTH OF CONTENT FOR THIS COURSE I'M SUPPOSED TO FINISH ON THE 20TH, SO I DON'T KNOW WHEN I'LL COME BACK  
> HOPEFULLY SOON  
> TELL WHAT Y'ALL THINK IT'S ABOUT TO HAPPEN, OR YOUR OPINION  
> (IDK WHY MY CAPS IS ON SORRY)]  
> SEE YOU IN THE FUTURE :D


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH HELLO  
> It's one am and I can't sleep so here we are!   
> Hope you like it

On Monday Stephen and Wanda went out. The man found a lion mask behind the washing machine and put it on. Wanda smiled.

“Wait” she went to her room, between the stuff Pietro sent to her there was a box full of personal belongings, small souvenirs from past experiences. She found the Elephant mask from a school play she was part of, six years before. She put it on. They left the house wearing masks, and for a moment Stephen couldn't care less about anything. They went looking for party supplies. The man texted Wong, inviting him over that night and he accepted. Now they were walking around New York wearing animal masks and buying paper lanterns and a chocolate cake.

“There’s a nice cafe next to the city hall, we can go there to see if they have chocolate cake, everything they bake is amazing;” Stephen nodded. “And we can drink something, what do you think? It’s almost lunchtime”

“Sure, then we go back home because we have a lot of work to do” Wanda smiled, imagining Wong there, the apartment decorated.

“He’s gonna love it!”

They took the subway to the city hall, and Wanda guided them to this coffee shop around Warren Street.

“We come here all the time,” Wanda said, and then she stopped, staring at the floor. “Well, we used to come here all the time” Stephen looked at her. There are people staring at them, but only because they’re wearing animal masks.

“Something wrong?” Stephen asks. She shook her head.

“It’s fine, doesn’t matter” she faked him a smile and removed the mask. When they stopped in front of the counter to make their orders Stephen’s heart started to beat fast, his hands started sweating and he completely lost his ability to speak. Of all places… He held Wanda by her shoulders putting her in front of him.

“Hi, I’m Loki, how can I help you?” Wanda’s mouth is open, and she whispers an “Oh, shit” before faking a smile.

“Hm, do you have that vegan chocolate cake with white chocolate frosting?” Loki smiles at her, curious because the man behind her seems really interested in his ceiling.

“Yes”

“Hm, we want six slices, hm, two chicken sandwiches and two raspberry juices, to go, please” She smiled at him and looked at Stephen. The man is completely avoiding eye contact with pretty much everyone. He gives her his wallet. He can’t believe the man in front of him is Loki Odinson, he can’t believe after all that time he’s right in front of Loki and he can’t do anything about it.

“Thank you” She smiles again, and both of them step aside, staying close to the counter.

“Shit, I didn’t know, I’m sorry” He nods, looking at her, his eyes wide open. “Are you okay?” Stephen nods again. He’s afraid that if he says something Loki might recognize his voice.

“We’re gonna laugh about it later, you’ll see” Stephen smiles. This man gets closer to them, putting his hands on the counter, and Stephen holds his breath. SHIT. SHIT. SHIT.

“Bruce, forgot my wallet” The man asks. Wanda is looking at Stephen and the way the former doctor is staring at the other man on the counter. “Give me three of those, I think it will make Peter feel better,” he asked, pointing to a bunch of Red Velvet cupcakes. “I’ll pay Loki later” Wanda’s eyes are wide open and she’s also holding her breath. Peter? Like that Peter? Fuck.

“Shit” she started laughing, which made Tony look at them. The girl is holding her mask, and Tony glances at Stephen really fast, with a weird look on his face. “I’m sorry, sir, it’s just too funny,” she says. And it is, because New York is huge, and there she is, at her favorite coffee shop, where she used to go all the time with Becky, and Stephen is there, and Loki is the owner and Tony is right next to them stealing cupcakes for his stupid son. And that  _ is _ too funny.

Stephen is too worried and scared to laugh, but he’s not mad at her, she’s right, she should be laughing. The man she thought was called Bruce gave Tony his wallet and a bag with the cupcakes and Tony looked at Wanda and Stephen one last time before leaving the coffee shop. Stephen is sweating underneath the mask. SHIT.

“Fuck I gotta tell Wong, can I tell him?”

“SHHH,” Stephen says, and nods.

“Sorry, I’m sorry” she’s laughing again. A few minutes later they’re holding their order, and Wanda is still smiling. The plan was for them to stay around, and eat there, but now Wanda knows they need to go. Stephen would be the most uncomfortable he has ever been, so they just leave the coffee shop with all the bags. Stephen is carrying a huge plastic bag full of party supplies, and the girl is carrying the food. Twenty minutes later they’re opening the apartment door.

Wong went there that night. The entire apartment was decorated with white paper lanterns and white candles, they ordered Nepalese food from this restaurant on West Village. Wanda spent the afternoon making paper flowers and she put them around the apartment.

They’re sitting on the floor, next to the coffee table, eating their food.

“Can I tell him? I’ll tell him, I’m telling him” Wanda says. She looks at Wong. The man is looking at them. “So, we went out today wearing animal masks, and I took Stephen to my favorite coffee shop to buy chocolate cake, and we got in, waited in line and suddenly it’s our turn, and Stephen looks like he’s seen a ghost, so he put me in front of the cashier, and I realize I need to do the talking, so the man smiles at me and says” she stops for a second. “And pay attention to this. He says ‘Hi, I’m  _ Loki  _ how can I help you?’ and Stephen is looking away, you know when you put food in front of a dog and ask him not to eat it, so the dog starts to look everywhere trying not to look at the food, because he won’t resist it? Stephen was the dog” She smiles. “And okay, we got over it pretty quick, so, we’re waiting for our food when this cute man, just a little bit taller than me stops next to us asking some Bruce guy his wallet, and a couple of cupcakes to his son _ , Peter,  _ and Stephen is like this” she froze, her eyes widened. “It was bloody Tony” Wong is looking at them, his eyes also widened. “By the way, he’s cute, congrats” Stephen smirks. “It was priceless, I thought he was gonna have a heart attack” Wong is laughing, which is something Stephen doesn’t see often, so he also starts laughing. 

On Friday Peter left the apartment after lunch. Tony got earlier from work, and Wanda convinced Wong that he should take her to Kamar-Taj for no specific reason. She made Stephen a chocolate crostata, and the man left the apartment to buy wine.

Around seven he was ready, Wanda had already left and he was nervous again. Was it a third date, or a second? He wasn’t sure.

Just a couple of minutes after eight Stephen rang the doorbell.

“Hey” Tony smiled, opening the way for the taller man to come in. Stephen handed him the crostata.

“Hey, Wanda made us this, and this is for us” he closed the door behind him, following Tony to the kitchen, holding two bags, one with a bottle of sparkling rosé, and another one with red wine.

“She’s sweet,” Stephen smiled. He gave the man the bottles and watched him put it all on the fridge. “And you’re spoiling me!” Stephen smirked. “I’m not complaining, though” the former doctor chuckled.

“So, how are you?” Stephen is looking at him. “How’s Peter? Did you talk to him?”

“I tried, he was in bed, but he got better through the week, I don’t know, I really wanna tell him, but it seems like it’s never a good time, you know?” Stephen nodded. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, I’m really great. I got a call from my lawyer yesterday, Wanda is almost officially mine, it’s all going well.” Tony smiled, and Stephen thought he could look at it forever.

“Is she alone?” Stephen shook his head.

“No, she convinced Wong that they should spend the night doing some research, poor guy, he’s definitely not sleeping tonight” Tony smiled. “And Peter?”

“He’s with his friends, something about Mexican night, I don’t know. So, something happened, and I think we need to talk” Stephen nodded, looking at him. Tony seems serious. For a moment Stephen thought that was it, he thought Tony somehow found out about his real appearance. “Are you gonna lie to me?” the doctor frowned, looking at him.  _ What? _

“Are you gonna lie to me like you lied to Loki?” Stephen took a deep breath. “Why?”

“I lied to Loki because I never liked people looking at me for who I became, that accident ruined my entire life, and telling him the truth would mean that he was gonna see me for who I was, and I couldn’t, I wanted to feel normal for a moment, you know? I wanted to be… Just a normal person with a life, not a person with a ruined career who can’t even cut parsley without making a fucking mess” Stephen said and took a deep breath again. “I don’t wanna lie to you, I didn’t because I felt like I could, I felt that maybe you could  _ see  _ me for who I was and I felt like no matter what you  _ saw _ , it was worth telling you.” Tony got closer, holding his hands.

“You don’t have to lie to me, okay? I don’t actually care if you can cut parsley, or not” Stephen smiled. Tony kissed him, still holding his hand.

“Okay, so the eggs…” Tony didn't wait for Stephen to finish talking, he turned the glass with three raw eggs on the kitchen counter, making a mess.

“What are you doing?” Tony looked at him, confused.

“You said eggs first” Stephen is staring at him, his mouth open.

“No, I didn’t, clearly you didn’t wait for me to finish talking before making a mess, why would the eggs come first? There’s nothing to hold them!” Stephen said.

“I don’t know, why would you talk about the eggs first, if you’re not putting the eggs first? Just don’t expect I know what I’m doing” Stephen smiled.

“Clearly. Just break the eggs again, and I’ll clean this mess” He found his way to the laundry room.

“Give me those, I clean and you start doing it” Tony grabbed a cloth from Stephen's hands and cleaned the counter and the floor.

After dinner they sat in the living room, the bottle of rosé open, sharing the crostata.

“I had fun tonight,” Stephen said. Tony looked at him, holding the spoon next to his mouth.

“Are you calling the night? Please, tell me you’re not leaving already” Stephen smiled.

“I don’t know, what do you have in mind?” Tony smiled, putting the spoon on the coffee table.

“I have a very vivid imagination, you know?” Tony smirked, his hands finding the way to unbutton Stephen's shirt. The former doctor made a move, expertly putting his wine glass on the floor without moving one single inch away from Tony, putting the shorter man under him. He kissed him, Tony's hands sliding Stephen's shirt off his shoulders.

Stephen woke up the next morning with Tony's half-naked body against his. One of Tony's legs were between his legs, his entire body touching Stephen's, Tony using his chest as a pillow, his right hand touching his own hair. Stephen had his right arm around Tony's back. The taller man smiled.

“Morning” Stephen smirked. “You slept here”

“I did, and I think I'm in trouble,” he said, using his left arm to grab his phone on the floor. SHIT. 10:10 AM.

He unlocked the screen, reading Wanda's texts.

**“MORNUNG!!!!!”**

**“NEPAL IS AMAZINF I CAN'T WAIR TO MOVE THEER, THAT PLACE I SWEAR IS EVERYTHING”**

**“Amazing* there* uuugh”**

**“I can totally see myself in a few years reading Latin under that tree!”** Stephen smiled, Wanda talked like he was supposed to know which tree she was talking about.

**“I'M SO TIRED I'M GOING HOME”**

**“Just got home, and you're not here, don't worry, I think I'll take a nap, we can go buy the school supplies later ;)”**

The man smiled, putting the phone away. Gladly Tony was busy drawing invisible lines on Stephen's chest to read the messages. He could see scars from the accident, a bunch of scars on Stephen's chest, courtesy of all the broken glass from the windshield. He didn't touch the scars, because he didn't know if he could, instead he just drew the lines around them, avoiding them entirely.

“Why would you be in trouble for?” Tony asked when he realized Stephen had put his phone on the floor again.

“I promised Wanda I was gonna buy school supplies with her, but she said she was gonna take a nap” Tony smiled.

“So, we have time for breakfast?” He asked, and Stephen smirked.

“Oh, we have plenty of time” he moved his body, putting Tony against the bed, holding his wrists against the mattress. He kissed Tony's left forearm, his arm, his neck, his chest and Tony gasped. Stephen smiled, moving to kiss his neck again, both his legs around Tony's body, supporting his weight. He slowly moved, dragging his legs against Tony's legs and putting his body between the man's legs, his hands on both sides of Tony's waist. Tony touched Stephen's hair, moving his body to a more comfortable position.

Tony was the first one to get up and take a shower, then he got Stephen a clean towel and watched the naked man get up and go to the bathroom. When Stephen left, Tony was still in the room, and he almost choked. Stephen had the gray towel around his waist, his chest still kinda wet, his cheeks red, one of his hands holding the towel and the other one grabbing his clothes from the floor. Stephen winked at him, going back to the bathroom to change. When he left Tony gave him a new toothbrush.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” Tony smiled.

“Oh, okay, this is a toothbrush, you’re gonna use it to brush your teeth, and then you can put it in the drawer” Stephen looked at him, holding the toothbrush next to his face.

“I’m not leaving a toothbrush here, already” Tony looked at him.

“It’s just a toothbrush” The taller man rolled his eyes.

“It’s our third date” Tony is looking at him, confused.

“So?”

“It’s a toothbrush.” the older man smiled.

“It’s just a toothbrush. Think about the environment, can you imagine throwing a new toothbrush away everytime you come here? Damn, Peter and Wanda are gonna grow up among a pile of garbage and it’s totally gonna be your fault, just take the toothbrush, brush your teeth so we can have breakfast, and leave the damn toothbrush there”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just feel like Tony's using the toothbrush to see how far Stephen is willing to go, like, if he doesn't panic with the idea of a toothbrush then he's into me :D   
> Honestly who wouldn't be?  
> Also can't wait to break some people's heart bc I'm that mean lol


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, how are you guys doing???

The living room is quiet. They're all quiet, and they're all busy with their phones. At least Ned is. Peter is pretending he's playing some game, and MJ is busy planning her next week because school is about to start and she just wants to make sure everything is organized. She had just finished her fifth checklist when she looked at Peter, on the couch, while she and Ned were on the opposite side of the living room.

She gets up, sitting next to him.

“Hey, birdie” he looks at her and smiles. “Give me that” MJ grabbed his phone and he watched while she was playing his game. “Here, now…” she gives him his phone, after finishing that level, and looks at him, blinking. “Is everything okay?”

Peter nodded. She knows he's lying, she can feel it. “No, it's not” she whispers and he nods again.

“I could see him texting Danny from under the table the whole night” she smiles at him, politely.

“Yeah, I saw that too, I'm sorry, Petey” the boy shrugs.

“It's okay, MJ” she looked at him.

“Let's go for a walk” she touched his shoulder, getting up, and the boy followed her. They stopped in the middle of the living room, looking at Ned.

“We’re gonna buy some ice cream, do you want something?” The boy shook his head, denying it, he knew MJ and Peter wanted to be alone for a moment, so he didn’t say anything about going with them.

When they left the apartment, MJ looked at him.

“It's not okay, Peter, you know, for you to ignore this, he is your first crush or something, and he's also your best friend, it's okay for you to feel something” He faked a smile.

“He’s my best friend, MJ, I don’t know what to do, I don’t even wanna go to school on Monday, because Danny will be there and I’ll have to think about it, and I just...”

“If you want we can stay away for a while, he’ll understand” Peter looked at her like she had just said something awful.

“We can’t leave him, I mean, you can’t leave him, he’s our friend” the girl looked at him.

“Yes, but if things with Danny go somewhere, then I don’t know, Peter, he has him, now, and we have each other, maybe you should think about that, he is our friend, and he knows you like him, so he will totally understand, and we still can do things together” Peter didn’t say anything. “Just think about that”

“Can I ask you something?” MJ nodded. “Do you think Danny is better than me?”

“Of course not, and it’s not about who’s better, or what, I don’t know, I always thought you and Ned would look nice together, but sometimes it’s just… Not meant to be, and you’re gonna find someone amazing, you know? We all will” Peter smiled.

“I think you already did” MJ rolled her eyes. “I’m just saying”

“Yes, you should shut up now” Peter smiled.

“Thank you, Mich, really, for everything” She shrugged.

Stephen went to the kitchen to find Tony making them breakfast and smiled.

“You know, I can always help you with that” Tony smiled.

“I understand about breakfast, you know, I have a kid” Stephen smiled.

“Yeah, but we can do it together”

“Your toothbrush?” Stephen rolled his eyes, putting his hands on the counter.

“It’s in the drawer” Tony nodded.

“The environment thanks you, kind sir,” Stephen laughed. “So, there’s something I wanted to ask you” the former doctor smirked, knowing he couldn’t miss the opportunity.

“Already? Wow, the devil works hard, and Tony Stark works fast!” he saw the man blush and smiled.

“You’re an idiot.” he laughed.

“I know, it’s part of the job. What do you wanna ask me?”

“How do you feel knowing that there are people out there with Twitter accounts for you?” Stephen laughed. shaking his head.

“You really did your homework” Tony shrugged.

“You know, I got curious”

“Hm, it was good, at first, actually I felt like it was the least I deserved, like people should be doing that. Now it's just… Sad, just a reminder of who I was and who I'll never be again.” Tony was looking at him, holding a spoon.

“I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked” Stephen smiled, gently.

“That's okay, at some point… I don't know, I expect to tell you these things at some point” Tony smirked. “If you don't get too scared about how I look, first” Stephen whispered.

“What are you talking about?” the former doctor shook his head, smiling.

“Nothing. Do you need help?” Tony shrugged, watching the man get up. Stephen stopped behind him, putting both hands around his waist. Stephen kissed his neck, and Tony put his head on his shoulders, giving in to the touch.

“I’m okay,” he said, his eyes closed.

“You look fine.  You’re gonna tell me why you look like you know what you’re doing?”

Tony smiled.

“Because I know what I’m doing. I know my skills making pasta are not the best, but I understand about breakfast” Stephen raised his eyebrows, curious. “I have a kid, Steph. I wanted to give him at least one decent meal, you know” Stephen smiled. “I know it's probably not gonna be as amazing as your sauce, but I wanna try it”

“I'm sure it's gonna be amazing,” Stephen said, kissing his neck one last time and stepping away. He sat in front of Tony again, on the other side of the counter and watched him cook.

“So, if you’re not doing anything and since you’re such a good cook what stops you from opening your own restaurant, or something?” Stephen smiled.

“Food is very personal, I think, I mean, I cook to impress, it’s literally relationship one-o’-one, like, having fun and impressing the other part, cooking is just a hobby,” Stephen said, and started blushing.

“You’re embarrassed, now, because you said the 'R' word, that’s cute” Stephen wanted to hide behind the counter. He didn’t know what to do.

“I’m sorry” Tony smiled.

“Don’t be, maybe we should keep doing this, you know, dates and dinners, and when we’re both comfortable enough to talk about that we can do it” Stephen nodded.

“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea” Tony smirked, looking at him.

“Which reminds me… Thor and Bruce have a private park because they’re that successful” Stephen smiled. “And I was thinking we should get the keys, and have a picnic tomorrow night.”

“I’m not saying no, obviously, but the kids have school Monday, and I don’t know, maybe we should spend the rest of the weekend with them and I meet you there on Wednesday at eleven pm?” Tony nodded. “Good, you can text me the address.”

Peter got home thirty minutes after Tony texted him asking when he was going home, because he was just waiting for Tony’s sign that he was alone, so he could go back home. 

Tony was on the couch, texting Stephen and waiting for Peter.

“Hey, dad” Tony smiled, looking at him. He decided to say something before Peter went to his room.

“Kid? Can I have a word?” Peter nodded, putting the backpack on the floor. The kid sat on the sofa, looking at Tony, waiting for him to talk. “You probably already noticed, but I wanna make sure you know about it through me” Peter nodded. “I met a man last Friday when I went outside to fix MJ’s car, and we’re spending time together, if I can call it that.” Peter nodded.

“It was pretty obvious, dad” Tony smiled.

“Yeah, I know, but his daughter knows, and I wanted to be the one to tell you about that before your uncles, or something” Peter is looking at him, his eyes widened.

“He has a daughter?” Tony nodded.

“Yes, and she also goes to Stuy.” Peter raised an eyebrow.

“So, is it serious? Like, if you're telling me… I haven’t seen you date someone… I never heard you telling me about another man before, and now you only met this guy and you're talking to me about him?” Tony looked at him.

“I don’t know, I wouldn’t say serious, but he’s great, he’s smart, and we have a mutual friend, so it made things easier.” Peter is looking at him, curious.

“Who is he?”

“His name is Stephen Strange, yes, uncle Loki’s Stephen Strange, we already talked about it” Peter is looking at him, completely shocked, his mouth open, his eyes widened, and he doesn’t know what to do. The boy started laughing, for reasons he couldn’t explain. Stephen Strange.  _ His dad was talking about dating Stephen Strange. _

Tony is looking at him, confused.

“I’m so sorry, dad, that’s just… Sorry, but you’re dating Stephen Strange?”

“We’re not dating, not yet, I think”

“Oh, God, okay, hm, I’m happy for you? Okay, yeah, I am, but I need a shower” He said, and got up. Tony looked at him, confused.

“Pete? You know you can tell me stuff too, right?” Peter looked at him and nodded. “Okay, now I think we should go out and find something to do this weekend, I’ll wait for you” The boy raised his eyebrows and went to his bedroom.

**“FUCK OH MY GOD OH MY GUYS GUUUUUUUYS” “MICHELLE!!!” “NEEEEEEED” “GUUUUYS” “MY DAD JUST TOLD ME!!!!!!!”** Peter texted.

**"okay”** MJ replied.

**“FUCK, YOU TOTALLY WANNA KNOW WHAT HE JUST TOLD ME”**

**“ok”** Peter rolled his eyes.

**“THE MAN MY DAD IS FUCKING DATING, MICHEEEEELLE, IS DOCTOR STEPHEN STRANGE HIMSELF”**

**“I’M CHOKINH” “CHOKING” “HOLY FUCK?”**

**“I FUCKING KNOW, JESUS, MY DAD IS DATING STEPHEN STRANGE!!!!!!!!”**

**“THAT MEANS THAT GIRL IS GOING TO BE YOUR SISTER!!!!!!!!!! THAT’S SOMETHING I WANNA SEE”**

**“You know that if that happens you can’t date her, right? There’s the ‘no dating each other’s siblings’ rule”**

**“1st, I’m not gonna date her, and second none of us have siblings, this is the stupidest rule ever** **!”** Peter smiled.

Wanda took a deep breath. First day of school. Pietro wasn't there, the only friend she ever had was now her ex-girlfriend and she also, gladly, by the way, left Stuyvesant, and now she was completely alone. She had a book from Kamar-Taj’s library about the mirror dimension, so for a moment, she thought she wasn't completely alone. It was only when she got in, looking for her locker that she felt alone. Every single student around her was busy, screaming, running and hugging their friends, exchanging gifts from trips, talking about their summer.

_ so, this summer this man adopted me, he has a spell that makes him invisible, I'm studying magic, and I went to Nepal through a door, one night to study about magic objects and weapons _

she thought and giggled. She shook her head, finally finding her locker and putting her books there.

Peter's heart was beating fast. Really fast. He got in, next to MJ and for a moment he felt happy that he didn't see Ned anywhere. He didn't want to. It was okay to text him, it was okay to play online games with him, but that was a totally different thing because Danny was going to be there and he was sure he wasn't ready to see that.

“You okay?” MJ is looking at him, concerned. He looked at her and nodded. “we're gonna be fine, Parker” he smiles. For a moment he actually believes that, but five seconds later he sees Ned. The boy is in front of what Peter thought it was Danny’s locker, and this boy is next to him, both hands in his pockets, a shy smile on his face. Danny. And Ned looks happy. He looks fine. And they're talking about only God knows what.

The book is great. Wanda wishes she could open the mirror dimension right there in the cafeteria, but she knows there's a lot she needs to learn, first. And Wong would totally kill her. She found a post-it with a note from Stephen with the money he gave her for lunch.

**“I hope you have a good day, love, don't eat anything I wouldn't!”** She's smiling now because Stephen  _ is  _ the best thing that happened to her, she can't deny that. He was already the father she deserved and she just didn't know what she could do to thank him for all of that.

Peter looks at MJ. They're eating alone because they didn't see Ned the entire day.

“That Pakal dude, hm? Totally alien” she's smiling, looking at him. That was probably the most random thing he had ever said, and she was talking about Peter Benjamin Parker Stark.

“You're serious?” Peter is looking at her, smiling.

“Totally. You truly think the guy was not an alien? He was driving a spaceship, MJ. With a seat and everything” MJ is laughing. People around them are too busy to pay attention, and Peter is smiling.

“Totally, one hundred percent an alien, you can't change my mind” she's smiling at him, now.

“Challenge accepted, Stark. Challenge accepted” the boy laughed, and suddenly everything was better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it!!!!  
> See you soon :D


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOOOOOOOOOO!!!!  
> HELLO!!!!!!!   
> please don't hate me 🥺  
> I couldn't wait to post this chapter and I definitely can't wait to post the next one :D

Bruce is anxious, it’s pretty obvious to him because he doesn’t know what’s about to happen. He’s waiting for Thor. He knows that there’s a possibility that he will spend the entire night there, waiting for his husband. He can’t stop his legs from shaking, and he's biting his nails because he knows that if he spends the night waiting the conversation will be completely different, and he’s not ready for that change.

Around one in the morning he heard the front door being opened, and Thor gets in, carrying a box of files, which Bruce thinks is useless, he’s sure Thor is going to go upstairs, sleep for like four hours, get up, take a shower and he will leave to the office again, and the box is going to remain untouched until he leaves in the morning.

Thor is in the hallway, putting the box on the floor when the doctor stops next to the hall entrance.

“Hey, babe, you’re still awake?” there’s no kiss, Thor is just running to the stairs, too exhausted to do anything.

“I’m just glad my husband still remembers his address” Thor is looking at him, now, a confused expression.

“Look, maybe we can talk about what’s bothering you tomorrow? I’m really tired, so…” . Bruce takes a deep breath before saying:

“I’m filing for divorce” and Thor is halfway upstairs now. He abruptly stops, turning his body to face Bruce.

“Did you just…” Bruce nodded, and he looks broken. He hates it, he hates the expression on Thor’s face, he hates the idea of leaving the man in front of him, but he can’t find any other way. Thor is speechless, he’s staring at Bruce, and Bruce is staring at him, and they don’t know what to do or what to say, and now Thor is fully awake, his heart beating fast.

“What are you talking about?” Is the only question he managed to ask.

“You were there for me, you know, here in New York first, then Boston, and New York again, and then France, and you changed your life so many times because of me, and I love you for that, but every time you were there for me I made sure I was there for you too, but now? This is just too much. You had to work extra hours the week before our trip to Rhode Island? Fine, because you used to come back home every night around midnight, and I was alone, but I was fine, because I had you sleeping next to me, and that was enough, but this? You haven’t been home in five days, Thor, five, and it’s Monday. I spent an entire weekend working because I had nothing else to do, you haven’t called me since Saturday, and you haven’t texted me in two days” Bruce said. He saw Thor open his mouth to say something. “Don’t fucking lie to me,” Bruce asked, defeated. “The four texts you sent me, the one wishing me goodnight two hours ago? The one this morning? The one last night wishing me goodnight again? And the fucking apology one you texted me Sunday morning saying you were sorry because you left me waiting for you to pick me up for dinner Saturday night? You didn’t even type them. You were so busy working that you asked someone else, or your phone’s voice typing tool to do it for you, and do you wanna know how I know that?” Thor is looking at him because it’s impressive. Br uce  _ is  _ right. He didn’t text the four times, and he  _ did  _ use Siri to do that. “Because I fucking know my husband, and I know that if you’re not using two exclamation points, or two question marks to finish your texts, you’re using ellipses, and that’s how much I know you” Thor still doesn't know what to say, “Four texts, you didn't stop to text me four times in two days, you didn't call to say you were too busy to go out for dinner, you just left me here, like an idiot, waiting for you when  _ you  _ were the one who called me inviting me for dinner, and honestly? Never in my life, I felt more alone.” Thor doesn't know what Bruce wants him to say, he's just there, facing Bruce.

“Please, don’t do this to me,” Thor asked, standing in front of the doctor. “please don't do this, I’m sorry, I really am, but this case… It’s the firm’s hope, you know? I’m sorry, it’s just… I want to make this right, it’s important to me” Bruce is nodding, and he doesn’t wanna feel like the bad guy, but he’s broken.

“Yeah, so were all my Ph.D.’s, all of them, all important, but you… You’re my husband, and nothing is more important to me. I wasn’t asking much, Thor, I couldn’t care less if you were going to go out for brunch with me Sunday morning, I wanted to have dinner with you this weekend, that was all, and I sat here for three hours and I waited, and when I was tired of humiliating myself I changed and I went to the coffee shop. Do you know what happened? Loki canceled his plans with his boyfriend to be with me, and I’m not saying he’s better than you, I’m not, all I wanted was for you to come home, to spend a night with me, that was all, but you didn’t” Thor doesn’t know what to say. “You can sleep in the bedroom, I’m gonna sleep on the couch”

Thor woke up the next morning and did his best to not wake Bruce up when he left the house. He didn’t go to the office, he made his way to Loki’s coffee shop. His younger brother was opening the shop when he arrived.

“I need your help, brother” Loki smiles, making his way to the counter.

“Yes, to save your marriage, isn’t it? I thought you were gonna ask, you know, because of what happened Saturday, yeah, that was messed up, brother” Thor is looking at him.

“I know, and I didn’t realize it was that bad” Loki frowned.

“Yeah, I left my date, but I called him letting him know, I’m dating, by the way, but you know the difference between us? I told En I was busy, and we’re not even a couple, yet, but you? You left your husband waiting, and you didn’t even let him know, not once, I mean, if it was only Saturday that was fine, but you left him waiting so many times in the last couple of months, not just for dates, Thor, you did it, and people just get tired of it, at some point, but I like Bruce too much, and if it wasn’t for the fact that he’s probably gonna leave the both of us after the divorce, I don’t know, brother, I love you, but Bruce deserves better” Thor smiled, ironically.

“Yeah? Who’s that? You?” Thor is pissed. He knows he deserves it, because Loki is right, and Bruce is right, but he just feels like this is too much.

“Oh, you know who I’m talking about” and now he’s mad.

“You know what? You should help Bruce fall in love with him instead of helping me, I’m doing this alone” and the older Odinson leaves the coffee shop.

Tony and Stephen met in front of the private garden that Wednesday night, just a few minutes after eleven. Tony opens the gate with a key, and Stephen is curious.

“Is it okay for us to be here, you know, with everything that’s happening?” Tony shrugs.

“Yeah, sure, I know at some point they’re gonna be okay.” the garden used to be a vacant land that Thor and Bruce bought just because they could, and turned it into a garden.

“Is this about France?” Tony is looking at him.

“How do you know about France?” Stephen shrugged.

“Loki told me”

“Sometimes I forget you knew Loki before me. It all started there, I mean, they promised they would get through it, but then they came back to New York, last year, and they bought this land to have something to do together, but Thor started the company, and it only got worse from there, and, I mean, Thor is amazing, he truly is, but Bruce needs attention, and he deserves it, he's a great guy, he deserves all the love and care in the world.”

“How did you meet them?” Stephen asked, looking at the sky. Tony glanced at him for a second. They were both lying on the grass.

“Do you wanna listen to the whole story?”

“Sure.” Tony nodded. He took a deep breath. He kept a mental note to not tell Stephen about the  _ first  _ time he and Bruce crossed paths.

“Hm, May and I were best friends since forever, and we went to MIT together, and she convinced me to do this project with her, I was going through a rough time I think she thought it would help, but we needed this physics lab, and we went to the dean’s office and Bruce was there, and we started fighting for the same lab, so the dean put us to work together, and this was twenty four years ago, so during that semester we shared the lab, and we became best friends. When we graduated the three of us moved together, we came to New York and about fifteen years ago Bruce was in Columbia, doing one of his PhDs and he met Thor, and Thor was a law student at the time, and they started dating. May was already married and Bruce used to feel bad, because he used to think I was feeling lonely, so he was always taking me to go on dates with him, and Thor thought it was a good idea to bring his brother along, so I wouldn’t feel left out. At some point they thought it was a good idea for us to date, but Loki was like, at least eight years younger and I was still struggling, so relationships used to scare me, because if you are in a relationship with a guy, then, and this is my twenty-eight-year-old-closeted-mind thinking, it was all gonna be real, you know?” Stephen nodded. “And we used to go to all these coffee shops and Loki was always complaining about something, so at some point he decided to open his own coffee shop, then Ben died, May’s husband, and I stopped hanging out with them for a while and started to hang out with her, so Ben’s brother died and Peter got into our lives, and two years later May died.” Tony stopped for a second.

“It’s a lot of death for a kid,” Stephen said. “and it was a big loss for you” Tony nodded, looking at him.

“It was, I moved in with them after Ben, and I just… When she left us I knew I needed to protect him, he was already calling me dad, and I felt like his dad, I was his dad, so that’s my life” Tony smiled when Stephen intertwined their fingers. “What’s your story?”

“hm, I left my parent's house, and I went to Perelman, I graduated, I got my M.D. and Ph.D. at the same time, and during the fifteen years that followed I just built my way to the top, New York was all mine for the take, and soon it wasn’t enough, I dated Christine for a while, and I was so frustrated all the time, mainly because I didn’t know I didn’t like women, so that obviously didn’t work out. I started getting recognized, and the awards came, and that’s when I met Richard'' Tony looked at him, with the mention of another man. “We met in Sydney, my name was in the main event, and we just… Met. He was my first boyfriend, my first relationship with a man.” Stephen took a deep breath.

“What happened to him?” Stephen smirked.

“Well, he was a good person, and I was an asshole, I made my way to the top, yes, but when I could I used people for that, I was rude, I was selfish. I bought the penthouse, never thought of helping anyone, never thought about anyone, and he saw my personality, grabbed his stuff and went back to London. I realized that relationships were a barrier, so I gave up on that. The hospital became my life, I had to do more, be more, and I just put all my strength on that, and soon New York was too small for me, the country was too small, and I enjoyed every single second of it. I was Doctor Stephen Strange, the neurosurgeon, rude, insensitive asshole, and four years ago, for no reason at all I came out to my parents, they kicked me out of their lives, and I kept doing my best, until two years ago.” Stephen stopped for a second. “It was the middle of January, a Thursday. I left the hospital around three in the morning, and I was awake since Tuesday afternoon, and I knew I should have stayed and slept in the hospital, you know? Like I always did, but my boss told me to leave, and I was such an idiot, I thought that if he wanted me to stop working I was gonna go home and wouldn't go to the hospital in case he needed me, and I went home, but I never got there, I turned left and I didn't even see it happening, a few seconds later half of my I-eight was under a truck, the driver kept driving and he also crashed. Everything exploded right above me, he died, I didn't, they told me I was lucky. I had nerve damage, the fire…” Stephen stopped. He didn't wanna talk about his face. “I lost everything, and if I were an asshole before, the accident just made it worse. I left everything behind, couldn't face the truth, you know? Sold everything, spent a year in physiotherapy to heal my hands, I met Wong. He knocked on my door once, a couple of months after the accident and he never left. He was the only friend I had for a long long time, he just helped me, I was a new person, thankfully, I changed. And I met Loki, he accidentally texted me once and we never stopped” Tony is smiling. “When you guys went to Rhode Island I was feeling shitty about something that had happened that Friday morning and I went outside and met Wanda, and the rest is just history”

“You didn't have to tell me about the accident, I mean, if it's too much for you” Stephen nodded. He knew he didn't, but he wanted to be truthful in every way with Tony, because if the man couldn't see his real face, then he wanted Tony to actually know him, to trust him, because sometimes he used to feel like a fake, and he just wanted to make sure Tony knew all the other things that made Stephen who he was.

“That's okay, I want to.” Stephen smiled at him, pressing their lips together for a moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EHEHEHEHEH ok see you tomorrow???


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
> Great day, isn't it?   
> Hope you like it!!!

Peter is busy. He likes being busy, and during those two first weeks of school being busy was actually a relief. He wanted to make sure he didn't have time to start small talks with the new couple. It's Thursday morning. ten days after their first day of school. He has five minutes between classes, and honestly? Five minutes seems perfect for him to read about quantum physics, I mean, there's a lot about quantum physics you can learn in five minutes, right?

And when he notices, Ned is right in front of him, looking kinda bad.

“Is everything okay?” Peter asked, closing his book.

“Yes, I just wanted to talk to you about something” Peter nods, looking at him. “I was talking to MJ last night” Peter doesn't like where that is going. He's not sure how much MJ is willing to share with Ned about the conversions she and Peter had.

“Okay, I'm listening” Ned nods.

“And I think, don't blame her, I mean, you said you were going to be okay with that, but you're acting weird, and don't tell me you aren’t, because I know you, if there's a person in this world I know, this person is you, so don't correct me”

“I'm just trying to give my best this year” Ned is looking at him, now, an annoyed expression on his face.

“See? I know you're lying, you're always doing your best. The fact is: I talked to MJ about relationships, and I don't wanna be the kind of friend that forgets about people when they start dating someone, I truly don't, but I know you're not okay, because you're all quiet and being productive, and I hate it, Petey. I love you, you're my best friend, and I hate seeing you like that, and I promise I won't be an idiot, we can still hang out if you want, but I think we need to take a break.” Peter doesn't know what to say, he's there, staring at Ned, holding his book, and he's dizzy.

“Hm, okay,” he said. And he's trying to look normal because Ned doesn't need to know what he’s thinking. Ned smiles at him and leaves, and Peter doesn't wanna go to class, he doesn't wanna do anything. He never thought he would live to see the day Ned would leave him for someone else. He closed his locker, and stormed out, desperate to leave the school.

He accidentally runs into Wanda on his way out.

“Hey, Stark, isn't it? Are you okay?” but Peter didn't see her, he's facing the floor, still holding his physics book. He didn't even apologize, he just left, and one block away from school he finally started crying.

Wanda is staring at the school entrance, and Peter is already gone. It's so weird. She grabbed her phone, texting Stephen.

**“Just ran into Peter, he doesn't look okay, maybe you should let Tony know?”** She was halfway to her classroom, but then something else hit her. Peter is completely alone.

**“Are you sure it was him? I don't wanna worry Tony”**

**“Pretty sure, he left the building, but I'm sure it was him. Idk, I just wanted to help”**

**“It's okay, honey, I'll call Tony, he said Peter was acting weird, keeping something from him, thanks for letting me know”** her class is no longer important, I mean, it's just math, who needs math when you're studying to become a sorcerer?

But she doesn't know anything about that girl Peter was with, she just wants to make sure people know about Peter because Wanda knows how it feels like to suffer alone.

She never talks to anyone, and that's fine, but right now she just hates herself for that, because maybe if she had a friend that person could have given her something about Peter Stark, and then she remembers. She doesn't need friends, she knows who would be willing to give her information about the girl.

Jeremy Garcia is the stereotype of an asshole, smart, pretty, selfish. He's also the captain of the swim team, which is a big deal in Stuyvesant. And he's where he always is, next to the school's trophy case, because he's an idiot and he likes to let people know that half those trophies are his.

“Jeremy?” he's looking at her, now.

“Maximoff, isn't it? How's your brother?” Jeremy Garcia doesn't know Wanda no longer lives with Pietro, he doesn't know she was being adopted by Stephen, so she just shrugged. “I miss that son of a bitch, what do you want?” She takes a deep breath.

“You know Stark? Peter Stark?” he frowned, pretending he was thinking.

“Oh, yes, the idiot from chemistry, yes, why?” Wanda is taking a deep breath. Jeremy is an asshole. The boy is always finding ways to offend people for no reason at all.

“Hm, his friend, the girl that walks with him, do you know something about her?” Jeremy is smirking now. He knows Wanda is gay, because he used to walk with Pietro, so he's just being an idiot.

“Why? You looking for a girlfriend?” she rolls her eyes and looks at him.

“Just give me information about her, okay?”

“Michelle Jones. I don't know her schedule” Wanda nods.

“Thank you” Before Jeremy could say anything she's already gone, making her way to the office. The place is completely empty, and there's a woman looking at Wanda.

“Hi, I gave my scientific calculator to a girl, and I really need to find her, can you help?” the woman is smiling politely. The good thing about having to lie to your parents about a girlfriend is that, at some point, you become an amazing liar.

“Sure, do you know her name?” Wanda nods.

“Michelle Jones” the woman types something on her computer and looks at Wanda again.

“She has world history, now, room C18.”

“Thank you so much, you're a lifesaver” Wanda left the place, running through the hallways, because the classes are about to start, and when she finally finds the room, the history teacher is already inside, and Wanda knows she needs to do her best to make him let her talk to Michelle.

She grabs a notepad from her backpack, writing about Peter.

“Excuse me, hi, sorry to interrupt.” She's faking a smile to the teacher. He looks at her, intrigued.

“Are you in my class?” She shakes her head, denying, and when she realizes, he's being an asshole, and he's asking her what she wants, but in Latin. Wanda smiles.

If there's something she's proud of is that she spent the entire summer learning Latin, and speaking Latin, when she could.

And now everyone else is staring at her because Wanda is answering him in Latin.

“Just needed to give this to one of your students” the man smiles, no one has ever answered him in Latin before. MJ is watching the scene, a smirk on her face, because she finally saw someone answering that arrogant idiot. And then she hears her name. The only thing she understood from the conversation, the “Michelle Jones” coming out of the girl's mouth. She watches, as Wanda gives the teacher a green piece of paper and leaves the room, saying something else in Latin, to which the man responded with a nod. He walks around the classroom.

“Miss Jones, this is for you” she grabs the paper, opening it.

**“just saw Peter - looks sad, left the school, I thought you should know. Steph told Tony because Idk what to do”** the most intriguing part for her is the “Steph” part. She doesn't know why the girl would call her father “Steph”, maybe she was just trying to be specific?

She grabs her things, leaving.

“Sorry, Mr. Walter, I gotta go, I'll bring you an authorization from the secretary next class, okay?” he nods, while the girl leaves the room. She's trying to find Wanda because she needs more information, but Wanda is trying to convince her own math teacher to let her watch that class.

Stephen called Tony immediately. It's the first time he's calling Tony without asking first, so he's kinda nervous when the man answers.

“Hey, how are you?”

“Hey, hm, I'm sorry to bother you, I know you're working, but Wanda just texted, she said she saw Peter leaving the school and he looks weird” Tony is frowning.

“Wanda knows Peter?” and that's the part Stephen completely forgot about. Wanda only knows Peter because the boy knocked on their door that day, weeks ago, and Stephen doesn't know how to explain that.

“Yes, I showed the pictures of Rhode Island to her, because she wanted to know more about you. I just wanted to let you know, in case something happened” Tony nodded, even though Stephen couldn't see it.

“That's fine, thanks for letting me know, I'm gonna call him”

“Okay, just keep me posted, okay?”

“Sure, I'll talk to you later,” Stephen smiles.

Peter looks at his phone. He's crying in the middle of the sidewalk, his heart beating fast and he feels weak, he feels pathetic. Tony is calling. He takes a deep breath, trying to stop the tears from falling and answers the call.

“Hey, son, how are things?” Peter frowns. Tony never calls, because he knows Peter is supposed to be in class.

“I'm okay, dad, actually I…” and he's trying really hard not to cry, but that's just too difficult. “I don't wanna be here, can you pick me up?” and Tony notices something wrong with his voice.

“Sure, do you wanna wait for me in the coffee shop?” Peter doesn't. He doesn't want to be seen, he just wants to go home.

“Can I wait for you around Warren Street?”

“Sure, I'm leaving now, I'll be there as fast as I can”

“Thanks, dad” The boy takes a deep breath, thinking about how long it will take for Tony to be there.

A few minutes later his phone is buzzing again.

**“MJ sent you a message”** Peter breathes and opens it.

**“MR. STRANGE’S DAUGHTER JUST SPOKE LATIN WITH OUR HISTORY TEACHER TO SEND ME A NOTE ABOUT YOU. WHAT'S HAPPENING?”** and when Peter finished reading it, he got another text.

**“WHERE ARE YOU?”** and then another

**“I CAN'T FIND YOU, PETER, WHAT'S HAPPENING?”** the boy smiles.

**“I can tell you what's happening if you let me do it.”** he answers.

**“JESUS, WHERE ARE YOU?”**

**“Warren St”**

**“I’m coming over, wait for me”** Peter smiles, again.

**“Don’t worry, just go to class, my dad is coming, I think I’ll talk to him”**

**“Oh, okay. I see you after class, then?”** Peter is thinking about it. Having someone to talk to sounds nice.

**“Sure, I'll wait for you, can you bring my stuff? It's in my locker”**

Tony called Stephen, who answered right away.

“Hey, did you talk to him?”

“Yes, I'm gonna pick him up and take him home”

“Is he okay?” Tony takes a deep breath because he doesn't know that, and it kills him.

“I don't know. I should have seen this, Steph, I should, I mean, he's my son, how could I let it happen?” Stephen is smiling, gently.

“We don't have all the answers, Tones, he's just a kid, I don't think they'll always be totally honest with us, I think you're doing your best, I'm sure of it, but he has secrets. There's just so much we can do to help them if they don't tell us things” Tony is smiling now. He's driving, but he connected his phone to the car speakers.

“You’ve been a dad for only a few months and already seems more prepared than I am.” Stephen is also smiling.

“I actually am not, but thanks. The fact is, Peter is gonna be okay, he'll tell you about it when he's comfortable, I mean, we kept a lot from our parents, didn't we? How old were you when you told your parents you're gay?” Tony smiles.

“I never told them”

“See? It took me thirty-eight years to do that, they're going to be fine, we're good parents, we're doing our best” Tony sighs.

“Damn, you're awesome, what did I do to deserve you?”

“You forgot to check the starter solenoid wiring, I was just the lucky man going home from the grocery store, and, honestly? I think it's also because you can see me in a way nobody else can”

“You're blushing, aren't you?” Tony asks because he knows Stephen is kinda embarrassed. He knows it's hard for him to let Tony know what he's thinking or feeling about them.

“You know me too well. Just go get Peter, I'm gonna text Wanda and if you guys need anything, we're here”

“Thank you, Steph, really, and thank Wanda for me”

“Sure, just try to talk to him” Tony smiles, and they stay in silence for a few seconds, both of them unwilling to hang up, and Stephen is the one that does it because he's starting to blush again.

Tony is driving. Peter is waiting for him, sitting on the curb, playing a game on his phone. He gets inside the car, calmer than he was, since Tony called, and the boy doesn’t say anything, he just doesn’t wanna talk about it.

“Let’s go somewhere, okay?” It’s Tony asking. Peter just nods. He actually doesn’t feel like going somewhere, he doesn’t wanna be in public, because he just wants to cry, not only because of Ned but because of everything else. Everything was weighing on him like a mountain.

Tony took the 9A to Inwood, and thirty-five minutes of pure silence later he parked outside the 9A, just a few meters away from the Harry Hudson Bridge, in the park’s parking lot. He had just crossed Manhattan and the idea of being back there just brings him a lot of memories.

Peter is not the only one holding his tears anymore.

He’s quiet. It was his place, his and May’s way before Thor, Loki, Ben, Peter, before all that, and it’s his first time there, after years.

Peter follows him through a trail, and minutes later the two of them are in front of the Indian caves.

“I used to come here with May all the time” he finally says, and Peter looks at him.  _ All the time _ . So many memories, he doesn’t even know which one to tell Peter. The Indian caves were her favorite place in the park, just to sit and appreciate, to look at them.

Peter doesn’t know what to say, he remembers May just as much as he remembers his biological parents, and he wishes he could remember more about them.

“She told me about Ben here, she told me about you here, I decided to live with you two here, Ben proposed to her here, and the first place we ever took you? This park. These caves and someone had drawn a blue horse here somewhere and you asked us if you could have a blue horse, so May and I bought you Tyler.” Tony is smiling, his heart beating fast.

“You still can't come here, can you?” Tony looks at him. “Are you okay?”

“It's been ten years, Peter. I have to move on, eventually. May was my best friend, she was my everything, but I think it's time for me to come back here.” Peter nods. There are a lot of feelings inside of him, now, and he's just happy Tony is sharing that place with him again.

“I wish I could remember things about her” Tony put his arms around Peter's shoulder.

“You know, I lived with her for thirty-two years, since we were like three years old, or something, we grew up together, and I still can't remember the sound of her voice or her smile, so I get up in the middle of the night and I take our homemade movies to the rooftop, just to see her again. Maybe you can watch them, if you want” Peter nodded, looking at him.

“Thanks, dad” the man smiles, gently, and he looks at the caves. Peter stepped forward, touching the rock, and it's like eleven years before, but the boy is taller, he's all grown up now, and Tony can't stop but notice that he had a similar memory, but with a 5-year-old Peter. The kid closed his eyes, after making sure they were alone.

“Ned is dating someone” Tony raised his eyebrows, looking at Peter, but the boy can't look at him, still touching the rock, feeling vulnerable, feeling Tony looking at him.

“Oh, okay” the man doesn't know what to say, because he doesn't know if it's relevant, he thinks Peter is only trying to change the subject.

“Not exactly, because I like him,” Peter says, loud enough only for Tony to listen, and he finally turns around, looking at his dad. The man is looking at him, unsure of what he just heard.

“Oh, Peter” and now he's hugging his son, and Peter is hugging him, and crying.

“I'm so sorry, dad, I should have told you, I'm so sorry” he's smiling, gently, and he put both hands around Peter's face, making the kid look at him.

“Never, ever again apologize for being who you are, never.” he catches a few tears from the boy’s face and hugs him again, putting his head against his chest. “I'll always be here for you, son, always, no matter what, okay?” and Peter nods again. “You can tell me things, son, please, I wanna be part of your life, and I'll never judge you, okay? I've done so many stupid things before, I'm in no position to judge” Peter giggled.

“I'm sorry, dad, I don't even know who I am, I don't, I just didn't wanna tell you, I'm so… I have so many questions” Tony smiles at him.

“You'll answer all of them, then, but, son? You don't have to know. Don't worry about that, you can just love people, no matter what. Putting a label on yourself is not obligatory, you don't have to have all the answers now, I know it's frightening, but it's your life, and at some point you're gonna realize you didn't want it to be any other way.”

“It hurts” and Tony smirks.

“I know, I know it does, and I wish I could do something for you, son, I wish I could take your pain away, but until you find someone that will love you endlessly, with all their heart and soul, heartbreak is just something you’ll have to face, and sometimes even when you find it, there's still a possibility. The only thing I can do for you is buy you a lot of ice cream and watch a lot of common movies with happy endings” Tony is still hugging him, and Peter is okay with that, but the boy looks at him.

“Have you ever had your heart broken?” Tony looks away, staring at the rock for a second, and then he looks at Peter.

“Yes. We were in college, he was a history student at Harvard, but he used to live in my building and we fell in love” Tony forced a smile. “God, that was twenty-five years ago. We dated for a year and he left, he joined the Air Force.” Peter is curious, he wants to know his name, he wants to know what happened.

“Have you heard anything from him?” They're not hugging, anymore, and Tony put his hands in his pockets.

“Yes, he was working with the president, now I don't know, I haven't heard anything for a while” and Peter knows Tony is not gonna say anything else.

“What did you do? After he broke your heart?” Tony smiles. It's a funny story.

“I slept with a guy. I went out, bought a bottle of some awful whiskey, and I met this guy, and that's all I can say to you” Peter's mouth is open.

“What? Why?” Tony smirks.  _ Because the man is Bruce Banner. _

“Because it was a long time ago, there's no need for us to reminisce, now come on, ice cream and movies?” Peter nods. Tony put his arm around the boy’s shoulder again and they left Inwood Hill Park.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!!!  
> See you in the future :D


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLOOOOO!!!!  
> I thought about coming back yesterday, but there was literally A TORNADO ALSKJASIJASLKSAJ (our country literally never has tornados, so we had NO IDEA what that storm was, like it got dark SO FAST and the WIND....... THE WIND!!!!!! And we only found out it was a tornado today when videos started to come out so that says a lot about yesterday's events, i think)  
> (everyone is fine, no one got hurt, but half my neighborhood spent the last 24h with no electricity and when there's no electricity our phone signals are the worst) anywaaaaays....  
> ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Hey, have you heard from Tony?” is the first thing Wanda asks, opening the front door. Stephen is on the couch, reading.

“Yes, they're at home, everything is fine now, and he asked me to thank you” Wanda nods.

“It was nothing, I knew it was him, so I just felt like I should do something” Stephen smiles. “Did he tell you what was wrong?”

“Yes,” Wanda looked at him, waiting.

“Are you gonna tell me?”

“No” the girl smiles.

“Oh, okay, I spoke Latin today!” Stephen is looking at her, amazed.

“What?”

“Yes, hm, Peter has a friend, her name is Michelle, and after texting you I thought she deserved to know, so I found her class, and her history teacher was an idiot, so when I told him I wasn't one of his students he just started speaking Latin, because he thought I wouldn't understand and I'd leave, poor guy, I just answered him in front of everyone, and he did what I asked” Stephen is smiling. He’s proud of her, that’s undeniable. 

Peter and MJ are lying on his bed, facing the ceiling, their fingers intertwined between them.

“You don't have to” Peter smiled.

“I do. He's my best friend, and if he wants things that way, I'm okay with it, we both know I was being an idiot”

“You were not being an idiot, Peter. You were heartbroken” Peter shrugged. “I love you, you know”

“I love you too.” Tony opened the door, and they looked at him.

“Are you staying?” MJ nods. “Okay, I’m gonna think about dinner”

“Dad? Actually, I was thinking you should go out”

“Peter, it's eight pm, and it's Thursday”

“Yeah, I know, but it didn't stop you from sneaking out last night, right? Go see Stephen, get a drink, invite him to go for a walk” Tony frowned.

“Why?” The kid smiled.

“I'm a new man, and I think my dad should be spontaneous and knock on his boyfriend's door and invite him to go for a walk”

“He's not my boyfriend” Peter nodded.

“Yeah, right, besides, I know you haven’t texted him all day because of me, just do it, we're gonna cook dinner together, don’t worry” Tony looked at the girl.

“I’m so sorry for you!” She smiled.

“You and me both. You can go, I’ll take care of him” Tony stopped for a second, thinking.

“Okay, you guys take care, and don’t go to bed too late” they nodded. Tony left the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

“Are we really gonna cook?” she asked.

“Oh, come on, what can go wrong?” MJ looked at him, a funny expression on her face.

“Hm, everything?” the two of them waited for Tony to leave and got up, leaving the room. “So, what was that?” Peter looked at her, curious.

“What are you talking about?”

“You, telling your dad to go meet Stephen.” The boy took a deep breath, looking for a recipe book.

“My dad spent basically the entire day taking care of me, he touched his phone twice the entire day, and I don't want him thinking that his relationship is gonna get in the way, I never saw him like that, and I like it, I don't wanna ruin everything, I wanna prove to him that I'm okay with that. And if he found someone that likes him, if Stephen found my dad… Maybe it's their chance to be happy, you know?” She's curious.

"Do you know something?” Peter frowned. “You know something, I mean, about your dad or Stephen, don't you?”

“I don't know what you're talking about, I just want my dad and Stephen to happen, I don't wanna stay on their way. We all lost something. If Stephen is gonna be the one that makes my dad happy, despite everything, I wanna make sure he will” MJ raised her eyebrows, letting it go.

When Tony knocked on their door, around eight fifteen, Wanda got up and opened the door. They were on the couch, watching tv.

“Hey, hm, you're Wanda, right? I'm Tony Stark. Is Steph there?” the girl smiled. Through the corner of her eyes, she saw Stephen get up, immediately and make his way to the door.

“Hey, is everything okay?” he asked, stopping behind her.

“Yes, I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was coming, Peter suggested that I should just… Surprise you or something, I don't know” Stephen smiled.

“Oh, he's not such an idiot, after all,” Wanda said. Both of them looked at her. Stephen reprimanding her with a look. “Oh, sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm gonna go to my room now, and you guys… Yeah” she left, grabbing her book on the couch and leaving the living room.

“I'm sorry, was it a bad idea?” Tony asked, closing one of his eyes.

“Not at all, I'm sorry about her, she says things sometimes.” Tony smiled.

“Oh, that's okay, do you wanna do something?” Stephen pondered. Going out with Tony, walking around New York… He smiled.

“Sure, I'll let Wanda know, just come in, I'll be right back” Tony got in, and Stephen closed the door behind him. The former doctor went to the girl's room, knocking on her door.

“Are you kidding me?” Wanda looks at him, he's not mad.

“I'm sorry, it escaped, I'm gonna go there and apologize” she didn't wait for Stephen to respond, she got up and went to the living room. Tony was waiting.

“I'm sorry I called Peter an idiot, it's just… something that happened between us, once” Tony smiled.

“Don't worry. Thank you for what you did today, Michelle told me about the Latin thing. It's really impressive” Wanda smiled.

“We’re going out” The girl looked at Stephen. He said what?

“You’re leaving the apartment?” Wanda asked, surprised. Stephen smiled.

“Haha, very funny, yes we are leaving” The girl is smiling.

“Are you actually leaving the apartment?”

“Okay, stop. I am. Like, completely leaving the apartment.” the girl is smiling.

“Okay, have fun”

“Are you gonna be okay?” She nodded. “Are you sure?”

“I’m gonna be okay, Steph, you can go, I’m not a kid” the man nodded, and they left. On the street, Tony glanced at him.

“Are you okay?” Stephen looked at him and nodded.

“Yes, I am. I’m just thinking”

“Thinking? About what?” the younger man smirked, moving his body closer to him.

“Can I hold your hand?” Tony frowned.

“Of course. I don’t think you have to ask to do it” the man said, and intertwined their fingers. Stephen wanted to ask him. People could see him, now, so they could see the man holding hands with Tony, he just wanted to make sure, even though Tony didn’t know about him, that Tony was okay with it.

“So, it’s not it, is it? What you’re thinking.” Stephen doesn’t wanna talk about it, I mean, he does, but he doesn’t want to ruin that moment. “Just tell me”

“Wanda is right. She’s not a kid, she’s sixteen, and she spent her entire life living with people that abandoned her at the end, and I didn’t get to see anything about her before, and she is my daughter, I can feel it, I love her so much already, and in a couple of years she’s gonna leave me to some Asian country and that’s it.” Tony smiled, gently.

“Stephen, if you feel that she’s your daughter she can go to the moon, and she’s still gonna be your daughter, for the rest of times, I mean, if at some point she has a child you’re gonna be the child’s grandpa, and if her child at some point have a child you’re gonna be that kid’s great-grandpa, and so on, you’ll always be her dad, you didn’t spend the first sixteen years with her, so what? You have your entire life to be the best father this world has seen, after me, of course” Stephen smiles.

“You’re the one that said I was already a better father than you, you can’t escape that now,” the man said. Tony chuckled. “Yeah, I think you’re right”

“Obviously” And Stephen is rolling his eyes at the man.

They found this small pizzeria on Bleecker Street that was completely empty, except for an elderly couple and a girl typing on her laptop. They sat on the last table, Stephen facing the wall, his back to the entrance, so people wouldn’t actually stare at him, and it felt good. Being out there with Tony like that, it felt… Normal.

They chose their orders and Stephen got up.

“Don’t worry, I’ll do it” he made his way to the counter, and a man was looking at him. He smiled, and he could feel the man’s thoughts while he was writing Stephen’s orders.

“Car accident,” he said, and the man looked at him. The former doctor always knew about it, it's the first question they think of.  _ What happened to him?  _ And it's the only thing they can think about, trying to find an answer, curious but too polite or maybe too shy to ask, especially because they know it's none of their business. Stephen forced a smile and the waiter got slightly uncomfortable, making his way to the kitchen. He went back to the table, sitting in front of Tony.

“How’s Peter?”

“He’s fine, we watched a movie this afternoon, and I took him to a park May and I used to go, and we talked about that,” Stephen nodded. “He’s fine, I think he’s trying to prove me something, maybe prove himself. MJ is with him, they said they were going to cook something for dinner, and he told me to go out with you. Maybe he’s just trying to be supportive? Maybe he’s just trying to tell me that he’s okay with us dating” Stephen smiled.

“So we’re not just spending time together, anymore? We’re calling it ‘dating’?” Tony looked at him.

“You know what I mean”

“Yes, totally”

“I’m sorry, I know you don’t like to talk about feelings, I don’t wanna, you know, push you into it” The former doctor smiled, glanced at the table and looked at Tony, again.

“I don’t mind talking about feelings with you, I truly don’t, because I like you, and this has been great”

“So what’s wrong?” Tony is curious. He doesn’t understand why Stephen always seems so uncomfortable and evasive when they’re talking about that. Stephen has two options: keep being evasive or tell Tony the truth. “Please, talk to me” the man stopped for a second and took a deep breath.

“I’m scared. I like you, I don’t mind saying that, but to think about it long-term is kinda frightening to me, I don’t know if someday everything is gonna change, if you’re gonna see me for who I am, what people around you may think, and I don’t wanna put you in a situation you don’t fully understand. I don’t wanna ruin it, but I'm not sure if I wanna see what can happen”

“You keep talking to me about this  _ thing  _ that I can’t see, and I don’t get it, what is it?” Stephen smiled. It was right in front of Tony the entire time, but he literally couldn’t see it, and Stephen didn’t know how to explain it. Tony waited for the answer.

“I’m sorry, I don’t even know how to explain it, I’m just talking about it in codes, because I don’t know how to tell you this, I just think you’re gonna run away and never look back” Stephen couldn’t face him. He felt Tony’s hands holding his.

“We all have dark sides inside of us, Stephen, and whatever it is, if what you say is true, if someday I see this side of you, then we’re gonna sit and talk about it, or I don’t know, we can find a way to make it work. We’ve been through a lot our entire lives, and sometimes we just need to allow people to see sides of us, or maybe see beyond it, we’re so much more than our flaws” and that’s when Stephen looks at him. “You’re a nice person, you’re amazing, and I wanna do this”

"What's on your mind?" Tony looks at him and Stephen reaches for his hand over the table. 

"I didn’t know," Stephen smiles, gently. 

"Of course you didn’t know, he didn’t tell you. What did you expect?"

"It's just… what if he thinks I'm not… that our house is not a safe space?" Stephen is smiling again, because he knows he can't laugh.

"You're thinking you, a gay man with a pansexual best friend, a gay best friend and a bisexual best friend, dating a gay man with a lesbian adoptive daughter didn't create a safe space for your non-straight son? Tony, come on. Of course it's not about a safe space. Maybe he was trying to decide for himself, maybe he was trying to see if it was actually that, I don't know, but it's not about a safe space."

"What if he thinks he can't trust me?" 

"Babe?" Tony is looking at him again. "It's not about trust, you know it, I know it, it's about finding your way on your own." The waiter got closer, with two individual pizzas.

"Thank you." Tony smiled at him, but the man smiled at Stephen, trying to show him some sympathy. He nodded for Stephen and left.

"What was that?" Tony is looking at him, his mouth half opened. 

"What?" 

"Him." And Stephen smiled. "I'm sorry."

"You're jealous?" Tony is looking away now, because he's not sure if he has the right to be jealous. "Tony?"

"What? I'm sorry, I just… he barely looked at me."

"Hey. That was absolutely nothing, and I'm pretty sure he didn't look at me because he was interested. He's definitely not interested."

"Do you know him?" Stephen chuckles.

"No."

"Then how can you be sure?" Stephen gets up, leans over the table and gives him a kiss. 

"Because whatever that was, I only see you." Tony smirks. 

"Yeah?"

"Absolutely." And Stephen kisses him again. 

(...)

"I'm sorry about tonight." Stephen looked at him, their faces a few inches from each other.

"What? Are you kidding me? Its the best night of my life." Tony rolled his eyes and Stephen smiled. "Look, if we're doing this, if we're part of each other’s lives now then nights like this are supposed to happen, and I don't mind, Tony, it was great. We talked, we had fun, we're here…" Tony nodded. They were sitting on a bench on Father Demo Square, Stephen's arm over the bench, his legs crossed and Tony was next to him, his legs also crossed. 

"Yeah." He gave Stephen a kiss, putting his head on his shoulder. He felt like he had ruined the night, but what could he do about it? 

Peter and MJ found Wanda after the third period on Friday. The girl was in front of her locker, trying to find her English assignment when Peter and MJ stopped next to her.

“Hi” She looked at him. “Thank you for, you know, calling my dad and MJ like you did,” he said. “And I’m sorry about what I did that day at your place, I shouldn’t have done that, stalk Mr. Strange like that.”

“Yeah, sure, I think. I’m sorry if you think I overreacted.” Peter nodded. MJ is looking at her, biting her nails.

“Hm, that thing yesterday with Mr. Walter was pretty cool” Wanda smiled.

“Thanks, it’s always good to practice,” she said, looking at MJ.

“Okay, we’re leaving now, thanks again,” Peter said and smiled, pulling MJ away from there.

  
  


On Monday, Loki was in the storage room, doing an inventory when Rory, his manager, got in.

“Boss? There’s a client outside and he said he wants to talk to you about his order. I tried to do something, but he said he’s only talking to you” Loki took a deep breath. He didn’t have time for that. “I’m sorry, I’ve tried, but he wants you” the man nodded, putting his notepad away and leaving the place. He closed the door behind him and made his way to the counter, finding En waiting for him, a cup of coffee in front of him. Loki smiled. The man watched, as the younger Odinson got closer, putting his hands on the counter.

“How can I help you, sir?” En smiled.

“There’s something wrong with my coffee. I bought it, and I drank it, and now my cup is empty” Loki nodded.

“Yes, that happens a lot. The thing is if you drink it, the cup is gonna end up empty, unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do to prevent that from happening” the older man smiled. “I can give you a free refill if you want.”

“That would be great, but maybe you can do something else, like, go on a date with me tonight. That would make the mysterious coffee disappearance worth it, yeah. The thing is, I’m seeing this guy and we haven’t had much time together, because he’s this hot entrepreneur and he’s always busy” Loki is smirking. He licks his lips and bites it, trying to contain his smile.

“That’s a possibility, yes, dinner tonight, sure, sounds like a nice way to make up for the missing coffee, yes, you can pick me up at my place at eight” they both smirk, and En nods.

“Okay, I’ll see you tonight, handsome”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MY FEELINGS ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE LIKE EXCUSE ME   
> TONY AND STEPHEN  
> JEALOUS TONY  
> PETER WANDA MJ INTERACTING AGAIN  
> EN AND LOKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> OKAY SORRY GOODBYE!  
> Let me know what you think!!!


End file.
